Hounslow Council finance chiefs have issued a grovelling apology after a mum of two had £600 incorrectly deducted from her wages just before Christmas, in a dispute over council tax arrears.
Teacher Alice Lowe moved from her rented home in Gloucester Road, Feltham, to a house in Ravensbourne Avenue, Stanwell, in July 2005.
She claims she wrote to Hounslow Council's revenue office to inform officials of the move and began paying rates to Spelthorne Council.
So she was shocked when over the course of the sub-sequent three years she was harried by Civic Centre tax officials who claimed she owed for the three months AFTER she left the borough.
And she said that although she thought she had resolved the matter at least twice, she was horrified to discover last week they had deducted the money with the threat that more would be taken next month.
After the Chronicle took up her case Hounslow Council admitted its mistake and agreed to reimburse her and launch an inquiry into the mistake.
But Mrs Lowe, 46, fumed: "I'm absolutely furious. I'm horrified that they have the power to do that. I found out they issued two court orders allowing them to take money straight out of my pay, and I wasn't even notified."
Gerald McGregor, Hounslow Council's lead member for finance, admitted it appeared a letter from Mrs Lowe in November 2006 was not acted on and that attempts to contact her former landlord and Spelthorne Council to clarify the situation were unsuccessful.
But he said: "Any of these three things being done with positive outcomes could have resolved the matter. Through no fault of her own, in this particular case it didn't happen. So we raise our hands and admit that our system of response did not work.
"On behalf of the council, let me apologise to Mrs Lowe and promise that we shall investigate further in order to learn from this case."
