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Local Hero Pays Over A Grand Of Council Tax In Penny Coins

Local Hero Pays Over A Grand Of Council Tax In Penny Coins

A brilliant, dastardly deed.

Matthew Cooper

Matthew Cooper

Council tax is a truly annoying thing. After you've paid all your rent and a huge electric bill, you get twatted with a £90+ council tax bill.

I mean I like grit on the roads when it snows, but I wish I still had that £90.

Alas, it is what it is, you have to pay it. If you don't, the outstanding bill just gets larger and larger and before you know it you're eating dry toast in the dark.

But not Russell Skellett. He paid his council tax, but in the most dastardly way possible. He settled his massive £1,852 outstanding tax bill in pennies, the Eastwood Advertiser has reported.

The man clashed with Broxtowe Borough Council over the tax on two properties he'd bought in Eastwood that were falling apart. They were located next to his own home on Three Tuns Road.

The buildings are both derelict though, and here's the rub: Under the law they should be omitted from paying council tax.

However, Broxtowe Borough Council inspected the buildings, claiming they were habitable and that he should have been paying tax on them.


Credit: Russ Skellett

After being taken to court Skellett begrudgingly agreed to pay the sum, but not before getting a bit of fun out of it.

"I went to my bank manager and he asked me if I was joking," he told the Eastwood Advertiser.

"It had to be delivered to my house and I took it down to the council office in a lorry - it was too heavy to put in the car, it's three-quarters of a tonne."

When he took all the coins to the council office it reportedly took them two hours to count them all.


Credit: Russ Skellett

Russ has now obtained a demolition order and expects the buildings to be pulled down in the coming weeks.

Good for you Russ. You're a hero in a mad way.

Lead Image Credit: Russ Skellett

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