BURY has joined other local authorities in England by stepping up the collection of council tax and business rates this year.

Throughout the country as a whole, councils have collected an extra £40 million in taxes by simply improving on council tax collection rates.

Statistics show that Bury Council collected 96.9 per cent of council tax receipts for 2001-02 compared to 96 per cent the previous year.

And the local authority's improvement also applies to the collection of non-domestic rates (business rates), up from 97.8 per cent to the latest figure of 98.4 per cent.

Overall, nationwide figures show the good start of a joint initiative launched last year by the Government and the Local Government Association (LGA) to help poorly performing councils improve upon their collection rates.

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said: "The £40 million extra council taxes collected this year is a good start.

"However, half a billio pounds was still uncollected last year. That's a great deal of money that could have been spent on local services."

He went on: "The council tax collection help team which we set up with the LGA last year will continue its work to identify and tackle barriers to better performance and encourage good practice."