EAST Lancashire parents owe more than £40million in child support payments, it has been revealed.

And in the past six months, 342 have been taken to court over unpaid maintenance.

The £40million cumulative uncollected debt - revealed for the first time - has built up over the last 17 years.

It is actually down slightly year on year, with one in four absent parents paying nothing to help bring up their children - down from one in three, two years ago.

The £1.515million collected for struggling single parents up to March 2010 was slightly down on the previous 12 months.

In a single day at Hyndburn Magistrates' Court earlier this month, 24 men from across East Lancashire were issued with Liability Orders to repay a total of £122,708 between them, to the mothers of their children.

As a percentage of all the non-compliant parents in East Lancashire, 95% were male and 5% were female.

The huge sums involved show the size of the task which the Child Support Agency faces.

Steve Harrison, who is the legal enforcement manager for the North West, said: “The culture is still not there that children should come first, that both parents have a financial responsibility.

“The message we want to send out to non-resident parents who are not paying maintenance is that they should come and pay us before we come and find them.”

Mr Harrison said that many non-paying dads have ‘in-depth liaison’ with the CSA before it gets to the ‘legal enforcement’ stage and that those that end up in court are usually refusing to pay up, rather than pleading poverty.

According to Mr Harrison’s experience, among the excuses given across the area include, ‘I can’t afford to pay maintenance this month because I’ve got to pay for my Sky TV’ and ‘I’m not paying this month because I’m saving for my holiday’.

But the more common argument from parents refusing to pay maintenance is that they give their child pocket money, buy them clothes, or take them out for a meal.

Mr Harrison said: “Whilst the child may benefit directly, they have to consider some of the money should be given to the parent with care as they have to pay the mortgage and bills.

"It is not as simple as gifts and clothes - that is not enough.”

In Blackburn with Darwen, non-resident parents owe £10.18million, in Burnley it is £7.47million, in Hyndburn and Pendle the figure is £5.78million, Rossendale is £5million and the Ribble Valley is £2.1million.

The amount collected by the CSA on behalf of parents is up more than 50 per cent in the Ribble Valley in the last two years and has increased in every other East Lancashire local authority, bar Blackburn with Darwen, where it is down by £77,000.

Mr Harrison said the CSA’s new powers gave the agency ‘more credibility’.

He said once a magistrate granted a Liability Order legalling registering the debt, the CSA can turn to bailiffs and also freeze clients' bank acounts.

In more severe cases, houses can be seized to obtain funds.

Also at the far end of the scale, magistrates can consider sending non-maintenance paying parents to jail or remove their driving licence.

The rough formula used is that the non-resident parent should pay 15 per cent of their income for one child, 20 per cent for two and 25 per cent for three or more.

Last December, a wealthy businessman handed over a record £70,000 when the CSA threatened to force him to sell his luxury Lancashire home.

The mother of his two teenage boys said she was left struggling for years after the father failed to give them any money.

She said: "There were times when I didn't have 10p in my wallet to afford milk or bread for my children and I had to ask my parents for help.

"Any money I had went on winter coats, school uniforms and food.

“Their father has become a high-earner but has avoided paying them a penny for years and years.

"The money isn't for me - it's for them and they should not have suffered just because our marriage ended.

"His actions have affected my whole family and caused us so many difficulties.”

The national debt stands at £3.8billion.

What is owed (March 10)

Blackburn with Darwen £10,184,000
Burnley £7,474,000
Chorley £6,155,000
Hyndburn £5,776,000
Pendle £5,777,000
Ribble Valley £2,164,000
Rossendale £5,017,000