A TORY councillor for Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) was taken to court after he failed to pay more than £1,000 in council tax.

Duncan Cossey, district councillor for North Curry and Stoke St Gregory, was summonsed to court after failing to pay £1,194.81 in the tax year from 2015-2016.

Cllr Cossey's failed payment came after an investigation into councillors and their unpaid taxes, launched by the Private Eye.

It revealed that Cllr Cossey was sent two reminders about his non-payment, before being taken to court.

The full amount has now been paid off by Cllr Cossey.

Nationwide, 234 of the councils who replied to the Freedom of Information request from Private Eye were forced to send at least one reminder to councillors for not paying their tax.

The worst council was North Somerset, which has 50 councillors, and sent out 10 reminders over the year to councillors to pay their tax.

Due to the payment not being made on time, Cllr Cossey was unable to vote in this year's budget meeting for the council.

The Local Government Finance Act forbids councillors from voting on the council’s budget – and determining the council tax – if they themselves have missed payments for two consecutive months and have not taken action to solve the problem.

Cllr John Williams, leader of TDBC, confirmed that Cllr Cossey had now paid off his unpaid tax, but refused to comment further on the case, and a spokesman for the council said it did not comment on individual cases.

Cllr Cossey was approached for comment, but did not respond.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said he felt local taxpayers would be annoyed their money was being spent in making sure a councillor paid their taxes.

Mr O'Connell said: "Council Tax has risen in England by more than 60 per cent in the last two decades so local taxpayers have every right to be angry that their money is being spent pursuing elected representatives who haven't paid on time.

"Some councillors may be in financial difficulty, in which case they should have the help and support afforded to others. But the rest should be leading by example and anyone who has failed to pay what’s due ought to have the guts to own up."