A CRACKDOWN on council tax arrears which saw angry York payers bombard authority offices and phone lines brought in nearly £2 million in only ten days, it was revealed today.

A total of £1.9 million was collected after City of York Council sent reminder letters to residents who had failed to keep up with their payments over the last 12 months.

The figure - more than double what was paid during the same ten days in June last year - has delighted council chiefs.

But some York residents will feel aggrieved after they were sent letters threatening them with court action unless they paid within seven days. Many tried to pay in person at the tax office, in Library Square, but faced big queues, while phone lines into the office were jammed.

James Drury, City of York Council's head of public services, said the amount collected to date was about half the total outstanding, but to get so much in such a short time exceeded expectations.

He said: "From the response to previous reminder letters, I would have expected a collection figure at this stage of around £0.75 million, so we are delighted.

"In addition to the money that has come in, we have also set up lots of new direct debit arrangements which will help us achieve a higher level of collection throughout the year."

About 12,000 letters were sent out during the payment blitz and Mr Drury apologised to people who had received demands in error. "We apologise to those who did receive a letter when they shouldn't have done, but also would like to thank those who responded positively to the letter and contacted us to either settle their arrears, or work with us on a payment plan to help them do so," he said.

"Anyone who hasn't responded to a letter and hasn't agreed a repayment plan with us will find themselves subject to further recovery action, including bailiffs and the courts if they don't contact the council as soon as possible."

Updated: 13:55 Monday, July 26, 2004