A PENSIONER who is exempt from paying council tax claims she suffered sleepless nights after being told she must pay £240 or face court.

Margaret Clark, 66, of Stuart Close, Darwen, said she is on medication for her nerves and receiving a court summons had not helped her condition.

She said because she was on benefits and a pensioner she was exempt from paying Blackburn with Darwen Council but on July 31, last year she received a reminder notice which said she should pay £58.66 of £632.66 council tax she owed.

She took the letter to Darwen town hall and was reassured that it would be sorted out.

But six months later, on December 3, she received another reminder asking her for £52.37 of £208.37 she owed.

Again she went to the town hall to complain and was told not to worry about it and that it would be cleared up.

The final straw came last Saturday when the 66-year-old opened her post to find a summons for non-payment of council tax.

It stated that Blackburn with Darwen Council had said she owed £208.37 for the year May 2003 to March 2004, as well as an extra £33 for the cost of sending the summons.

And she was told she had to appear before Blackburn magistrates on Wednesday, January 28.

Mrs Clark said: "I couldn't believe it. After being told twice by council staff not to worry about it I still received a summons for money I don't even owe.

"I am on tablets for my nerves and each time I get one of these letters it makes me worse. When I got the reminder notices I didn't know what was going on but after taking them to the town hall I thought it would be OK.

"But I panicked when I saw the summons and thought I might have to go to court. Even though I know I don't pay council tax it is still worrying to think you might be in trouble.

"It really upset me and I didn't know what else to do. Someone had obviously realised the bill was wrong because the amount I supposedly owed went down from £632 to £208 but where they've got the new figure from I've no idea.

"It's so ludicrous I could laugh if it wasn't so serious at the same time."

The council's director of finance, Alan Cotton, said: "Unfortunately Mrs Clark's claim was incorrectly calculated when processing her initial council tax benefit application, which has resulted in a summons being incorrectly issued. We will write a letter of apology and let her know the summons has been withdrawn."