OVER-ZEALOUS jobsworths have sent gran Sheila Foster a council tax bill for the princely sum of... 1p.

Whatés more, bumbling bureaucrats were out of pocket in manpower costs just to collect the penny debt.

Retired engineer Sheila, 62, was convinced her eyes were playing tricks on her when she opened the envelope and saw the demand so she called in the help of her daughter, Debbie Foster.

éI thought, bloody hell, something must be up with my glasses so I called Debbie and William, my grandson, over to have a look. I thought maybe it was for a pound but no, it really was just for a penny.é

Tongue-in-cheek she quipped: éDebbie immediately asked if we could pay half this week, and half the next.é


Debbie, 40, said: éIt is funny but when you think about it, the council is always saying they donét have enough money for this and that, but they had enough to send this letter out. I know that it doesnét cost too much but if they do this a lot, it all builds up.é

Mum Sheila said: éWell I went over to the town hall the same day é after all you donét want a debt like that hanging over your head.

éThe girl at the counter was amazed as well é she even asked if she could make a photocopy.é

Cheeky Sheila couldnét resist pushing the envelope é and suggested paying by cheque.

She laughed: éI told her I wanted to pay by cheque. But in the end I paid in cold, hard cash and Iéve got the receipt to prove it.é

According to the letter, Sheila could also have paid by debit or credit card, paypoint card, in monthly or weekly instalments, by standing orders or by direct debit.

She said: éAt least normally when you spend a penny you at least get something back. Youéd think they would just add it on to the bill for this year.

éI suppose weére lucky really, all our neighbours will be jealous when they read this. Ités the council tax bill the whole of Macclesfield must dream of.é

Sheila, who lives on Moss Lane, used to work at textile giants Rieter Scragg until she took redundancy. She started a new job at Hollin Mews Nursing Home but was suffering from pains in her legs.

Currently in receipt of a mobility allowance she does have a discounted council tax bill and she had paid up. But due to an administrative error she was overpaid by 1p and the letter was to retrieve that debt.

A Macclesfield Borough Council spokeswoman, who was unable to give specific manpower costs, said: éAs reported in The Macclesfield Express on March 23, MBC has an extremely efficient council tax collection department, consistently performing in the upper quartile of all local authorities. This case is an isolated incident.é

She added: éThis year we produced 60,000 council tax bills at a printing cost of 0.8p each. These were posted out to households at a cost of 13.3p each é we get a discount on second class postage.

éWe always use the bills to advise our customers of the amount of their award and the resulting adjustment to the amount.é