Pensioners will pay extra (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Pensioners will pay extra

8:52am Thursday 21st February 2008 in News By Peggy Clatworthy

TEWKESBURY pensioners Anne and Chris Bayliss say that there is no way they can pay their council tax without incurring extra charges.

The couple do not have a chequebook, credit or debit card, or a bank account that will allow them to set up direct debits.

They say that they have always dealt in cash, and in the past have paid their council tax at the post office, when they drew their pension, using a cash card given to them by the borough council to cover the transaction charge.

Now in a move to cut costs the council has not only stopped the use of the cards, it has also closed its cash desk at the council offices in Gloucester Road - the other place they could pay in cash.

Now if they want to pay at the post office they will have to find an extra £25 a year on top of the 5 per cent rise in council tax.

Mr Bayliss said: "They have got to give us something, they can't take everything away."

Mrs Bayliss added that people of their generation are used to dividing up their money when they receive it to pay their various bills, and that is how she wants to continue.

The couple contacted the council a month ago about their problem and are still waiting for a reply.

Council spokesman George Hill said: "We have had a few people asking about this kind of thing and we are looking into to it see what we can do for them."

Closing the cash desk and not paying the transaction charges for people paying at the post office will save the council £45,000 a year - equivalent to £1.50 tax on an average band d house.