Man pays nearly £2 million tax bill in pennies

A furious property decided to pay his £1,851.94 council tax bill in pennies after devising a method to pay in the most inconvenient way possible.

Russell Skellett thought he did not have to pay council tax for two houses he bought next to his home in Eastwood.

He told the Eastwood Advertiser the houses derelict and uninhabitable, as they had not been lived in for two years and had no electricity, gas or running water.

However Broxtowe Borough Council inspected the buildings and claimed they were habitable. After being taken to court, Mr Skellett reluctantly agreed to pay the bill.

He went to the bank and asked for the full amount in pennies. There was so much change the bundles of coins – weighing three-quarters of a ton – had to be delivered to his house.

To deliver them to the council office he filled two shopping trollies and transported them in a lorry.

He warned the council: “For as long as I have to pay council tax on these properties, I will keep coming down and paying in pennies.”