CASH-strapped Dover District Council (DDC) is still waiting to collect over £400,000 in unpaid council tax, the Express can reveal.

Figures obtained by this paper through a Freedom of Information request to DDC show the authority, which currently has to reduce services including street lighting, CCTV and cemetery maintenance due to central government cuts, is still trying to retrieve hundreds of thousands of pounds from hard-up households.

In total, £467,442.18 is still owed in council tax for the financial year 2010/11, yet the authority has managed just one conviction through the courts in the last year.

The statistics have come to light just weeks before DDC is due to announce its budget for the next financial year.

In 2010, central government announced it was to cut Dover's funding grant by £3.2million over two years forcing councillors to agree a raft of measures to help balance the books.

But the Express has found DDC has also "written off" £184,429.39 in unpaid council tax for 2010/11.

A council spokesman defended the decision, saying: "We will always take every step to recover council tax debt.

"The amounts written off are reflection in the accounts that it is not prudent to assume we will be able to collect that debt.

"None the less, if the opportunity arises to collect the debt we would pursue it."

If every household paid council tax, DDC would collect £66,595,235.43 and after discounts and exemptions it is still expected to bring in £58,802,552.64.

DDC, like other district councils, collects council tax on behalf of the government. All the cash received goes into a central pot before being re-distributed to councils and authorities including the police and fire service, around the country.

Despite the significant amount of outstanding council tax still to be collected and it's legal department having a £20,000 budget for legal fees to pursue tax evasion, DDC managed just one successful conviction for failure to pay up council tax owed.

The spokesman added: "Being sent for committal is the very last stage of an exhaustive recovery programme.

"If all other methods of trying to recover the money a person owes have been unsuccessful then the council can apply to the magistrates' court for that person to be committed to prison.

"This figure (the one conviction) is not considered to be unusual, however the decision on whether to commit a person ultimately rest with magistrates."

District councillor and leader of the opposition Gordon Cowan agreed the authority should only chase tax dodgers if it proved economically viable but urged it to retrieve its outstanding debts.

Mr Cowan said: "It's prudent to look at how much is owed and how much it's going to cost to get it paid but when you think it's costing £250 in court costs to get one conviction then I think the council should make very effort to look into making sure people who can pay do pay."