Uncollected council tax '£760m'

The amount of uncollected council tax has risen, research suggests

The amount of council tax not collected by local authorities has increased to more than £760m, a report suggests.

A study by the GMB union says more than 400 councils in Britain failed to collect all their council tax in the last financial year.

The overall figure was about £20m more than for the previous 12 months, the research adds.

The amount of uncollected council tax had increased in half of local authorities, the GMB said.

According to its figures, Glasgow topped the league for uncollected council tax at almost £25m, followed by Birmingham on £19.4m, Edinburgh on £15m and Manchester on £13.6m.

Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB said: "With over £760m uncollected council tax in the last year alone, and more than half of councils getting worse at it, this is a serious issue."