A POSTAL error may have cost a Shaw sheltered housing resident hundreds of extra pounds in council tax.

Kenneth Morse prided himself on keeping on top of his tax bill, sometimes even paying a month early just to ensure he did not receive any fines.

The 67-year-old sent in a form to renew his annual 25 per cent single payer discount by first class mail well ahead of time and heard nothing back from the local authority, so he assumed it had all gone smoothly.

Then, out of the blue, he received a letter from the council earlier this month saying he would have to now pay full price for his council tax - which will add around £600 to his bills over Christmas.

Ken told the Adver: “It’s really upsetting and came as quite a shock, I do worry about it, especially at this time of year, it’s an extra cost I don’t need - happy Christmas!

“If the council had just got in touch to let me know they had not received the form, I would have sent it again and this problem would have been avoided, but the first I heard about it was the letter taking away the discount.

“I have lived here for seven years and renewed the discount each time, they know my circumstances have not changed, and I’ve kept all the receipts.

“It’s stressful because I don’t know whether or not this will continue. I wonder if this has happened to just me or there might be other people who have ended up in the same situation.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “We haven’t received the form from Mr Moore.

“We do send out reminders to residents who are using the discount and sent out his form in August, a reminder was then sent in September.

“As we had not received the returned form, or one completed online, the discount was removed this month.

“A replacement form was sent out last week and the resident has been asked to fill this in or complete it online.

“Once we receive the form we will reinstate the discount.”

Ken insists he never received a reminder.

He added that he went to the Civic Offices to check if he could receive the right form and was in a queue with two other people who were there because they had been experiencing the same problem with their council tax discounts.

The replacement form arrived shortly afterwards but he claims it still had the old billing on it applied to different months, so he sent it back via recorded delivery with a cover note explaining the reason for the return.

He has been notified of the way to fill the form in online at www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20020/council_tax/230/council_tax_discounts_and_reductions/3