CORNWALL Council will have to refund council tax for residents of a rural parish after they were wrongly registered as living in the next town.

St Issey and St Tudy Conservative Councillor Steven Rushworth uncovered the error, which saw residents of St Breock Parish registered in Wadebridge instead.

He is now urging residents across Cornwall to examine their council tax bills to ensure they are correctly registered.

Cllr Rushworth said: ’People who live in larger towns often pay more council tax than those who live in rural parishes because precepts for larger town councils are higher to pay for more devolved services.

’After residents asked me why they weren’t able to vote for candidates in the Wadebridge Division while paying the Wadebridge town council precept, I did some detective work. I identified that they had been erroneously marked as paying council tax in Wadebridge despite not living there and as such were entitled to a refund going back over several years!

’This was an honest mistake by Cornwall Council and thanks to the officers for putting it right, but given that this went on unnoticed for so long, I urge residents across Cornwall to carefully check your council tax bills in case you have experienced a similar error.’

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