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£2.5mn of unpaid debts written off by Swindon Council

20/08/2009

Swindon Council has written off over £2.5mn of unpaid debts in the last year, thisiswiltshire.co.uk reports.

The debts, including £868,066 of `non-domestic rates`, £614,601 of council tax, £266,038 of parking tickets and £73,000 of housing rents, were written off between April 2008 and March 2009.

A spokesperson for Swindon Council commented: "Unfortunately local authorities, like all organisations and businesses, do end up having to write off money they are owed because the debts can`t be recovered.

"This can be because of bankruptcies, fraud, or people making themselves difficult or impossible to trace.

"We do pursue all debts vigorously, and our record on debt recovery is as good as the best performing authorities in the UK, but there comes a point when it simply isn`t cost-effective to continue to do this, and the money has to be written off."

"Regardless of who they owe the money to," said a spokesperson for Debt Advisers Direct, "it is important that anyone struggling with their debts seeks professional debt advice as soon as their problem becomes apparent.

"It`s much better for people to address their debt problems early on - rather than struggling to keep up with repayments and ending up in unmanageable debt."

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Debt Advisers Direct offer free debt advice and a range of debt solutions, including debt management plans, debt consolidation loans and IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements).

More than 4 million fear they`ll be made redundant 16/12/2010 - According to R3`s quarterly personal debt tracker, more than 4 Consumers took on more mortgage debt in July 26/08/2010 - Consumers took on £2bn more mortgage debt than they repaid Debts called in by parents 26/08/2010 - According to research, `the bank of Mum and Dad` is Teenagers `scared of debt` 19/08/2010 - Nearly two thirds of teenagers are `scared` of debt, according