by Lamiat Sabin

A RETIRED vicar who refuses to pay council tax as a matter of principle won a landmark High Court case yesterday against a local authority that billed him for excessive legal costs.

Anti-poverty campaigner Paul Nicolson, 82, says millions of poor people who are taken to court by councils over unpaid council tax could also be receiving extortionate bills.

He shelled out £1,000 of his own money to launch legal action against the north London borough of Haringey after complaining that judges had failed to check the legitimacy of costs that were wrongly “lumped on.”

Mr Nicolson added that the penalty was unfairly imposed on the poor and the widespread problem would be cause for great concern as magistrates granted around three million liability orders every year to councils in England and Wales.

Magistrates in Tottenham, north London, ordered him to pay £125 costs after he was issued with a liability order.

He then asked a judge to declare that the magistrates had failed to check the accuracy of the charge.Haringey Council bosses disputed his allegations and said his judicial review claim should be dismissed. But Ms Justice Andrews ruled in Mr Nicolson’s favour.

“I’m delighted,” said Mr Nicolson after the ruling. “It’s game, set and match to the poor.”

The magistrates did not have the “relevant information” in front of them before making the payment order against the former clergyman, Ms Andrews said.

Mr Nicolson mounted the legal challenge because he believes that the additional costs on top of council tax arrears are a “very big penalty” for those who cannot afford to pay.

He added: “The related question is what is the point of enforcing the council tax against people whose incomes are so low that they cannot pay?

“I’m not a socialist. I’m a Christian. All I do is state the facts on poverty.”

Though he had spent money taking the case to court, two barristers agreed to represent the pensioner free of charge at yesterday’s hearing.

Mr Nicolson was vicar of Turville in Buckinghamshire, before retiring more than 15 years ago.

The village was used as the setting for BBC television comedy The Vicar Of Dibley.