A COUPLE have stopped paying their council tax due to the ‘complete inefficiency’ of South Hams District Council’s waste collection department.

Eva and Thomas Harrison, of Gallants Bower, Dartmouth, have said they are refusing to pay their council tax after not having ‘a functioning waste collection’ since April.

They say that in respect of recycling waste collections, ‘most of the time the blue and white bags have been collected on time, but the brown bin has not been emptied. In all the time we had one collection of brown waste on the allocated day.

‘All other times we had to notify the council, we then have not been given a precise time for recollection having to leave the bin out all the time.

‘During that time all kind of people, dog walkers included, are passing our property and are putting bottles, cans, food waste and doggy bags etc into our brown bin.

‘By the time the bin gets eventually emptied the recycling waste has deteriorated to such a state, that the bins are infested with worms and other creatures. Most of the time the bins have been out for up to another two weeks.’

The grey bins have given them ‘a bit more luck’ with them being emptied on the allocated day ‘about four times’ since April.

Eva said: ‘So as a last resort, after numerous phone calls and hours listening to the automated tape about South Hams Waste collection, we see no other option than to stop paying our considerable amount of rates for services not provided.

‘We would only be too pleased to be taken to court for not paying council tax, so we can bring the case to the attention of the media and the public.’

Council tax, which is collected by South Hams District Council on behalf of themselves, Devon County Council, Devon and Cornwall Police, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and local town and parish councils, pays for refuse collection, housing, planning, leisure, the police, the fire service, education, roads, care for the elderly and disabled, child protection, public health, libraries, and adult social care among others, is paid by every owner or occupier of a property.

A district council spokesman said: ‘We apologise to this resident for the issues they have recently experienced, we will look into their case further and respond directly to the customer.

‘The cost of public services funded by council tax is spread across all tax payers in the same way, regardless of the level of service that residents make use of or directly receive from the council.

‘Unfortunately there is no provision within the existing council tax legislation to give a discount to households that may not receive or use certain services.’