1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224 
Refusal to pay
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A Black Country haulier is refusing to pay his business rates until the local council cracks down on fuel thieves who plague his yard.
Trevor Poulton, managing director of WB Transport in Kingswinford, says he has had more than £5,000 worth of diesel stolen over the past three years while damage to fuel tanks has cost him even more. His company operates a fleet of 22 trucks.
He alleges travellers who illegally park on the council's nearby official gipsy camp are to blame for the problem, "In my eyes, the council is responsible for people who occupy their site. I have taken the decision to withhold payment of rates until some effort is made to sort the problem out.* A spokesman for Dudley Council says non-payment of rates will result in court action because the council has a legal duty to pass them on to central government. "Mr Poulton needs to speak to the police in the first instance and then the council to find a way of tackling these problems."