WARRINGTON Borough Council is set to write off around £660,000 in unpaid council tax and other debts.

The authority's audit and corporate governance committee will note the decision for the debt, which has become 'unrecoverable', to be written off today, Thursday.

The figure includes £574,277 in council tax, with the majority uncollected between 2003 and 2009.

Overall, council tax collection during this period exceeded £400 million, amounting to 99 per cent.

The council is also set to write off £85,220 in miscellaneous income for the period covering last April to September.

Cllr Russ Bowden, executive board member for corporate finance, said: "We know how important council tax and other sources of income are in the delivery of services.

"That's why we work so hard to collect every penny we can – and we maintain a very good record in pursuing outstanding payments.

"However, although our collection rate remains high, some debts become impossible to collect and continuing to pursue them is a waste of our resources.

"On these occasions, we will consider writing off the debt – although this is always a last resort and we will only do this if there is no other option."

Around £92 million in council tax, £109 million in business rates, £54 million in miscellaneous income and £2 million in housing benefit overpayments are collected by the council each year in Warrington.

However, there are circumstances where the council is unable to pursue an outstanding debt any further, such as when the person owing the debt has died, has left the borough without trace, or where a debt relief order has been granted.

Where such circumstances occur and 'all avenues of recovery have been exhausted' the debts are referred to the director of finance and information services, with a recommendation of writing them off.