A PETERSFIELD man has been jailed for failing to pay his council tax.

A court heard last week how Charles Deakin of Station Road, Petersfield, had council tax arrears of £1,325 despite receiving a suspended sentence at an earlier hearing to allow him to pay back the debt.

But Deakin had paid just £300 of his original £1,625 debt and an East Hampshire District Council spokesperson said that Alton Magistrates were left with little option but to jail him.

Deakin was sentenced to 74 days in prison by Alton Magistrates on Wednesday, June 25.

The arrears were in respect of council tax at a property in Langrish, which Deakin had left in 2001, and were for the period 1997-2001.

East Hampshire District Council had worked very closely with Deakin to resolve the arrears and avoid the prison sentence, and urged anyone who is concerned about council tax or business arrears to contact them to avoid court action.

In the same week the government announced that council tax collection rates have improved.

English councils collected £14.09 billion in council taxes in 2002/2003, 96.4 per cent of the £14.62 billion collectable. This was a rise of 0.3 per cent.