POET John Slim has had such a taxing time that he's tried to sort it out - in rhyme.

The journalist and author, who is aiming to get his thousands of limericks accepted as a record breaker, came up with a few more when Bromsgrove District Council told him that he owed £1,600 in back council tax.

(PP:d00684.jpg:TAXING:John Slim)

The 71-year-old, from Alcester Road, Lickey End, thought he had been paying by direct debit instalments since April, 2001. But when he checked with the bank, he found the cash hadn't been taken out for 15 months. He wrote to explain but when he got no reply he penned them a limerick.

Bank

A week later and still no reply so John wrote: "It's becoming more clear by the day, That the council's reluctant to say, Why it failed to make clear, For more than a year, Instalments the bank didn't pay."

He didn't get an answer - but says he did get a council questionnaire asking if he was happy with their response times.

"My council tax has gone up by about 60 per cent in the last five years. I suppose I should be grateful it's not being wasted on postage stamps," said John, who is also waiting for The Guinness Book of Records to reply to his claim that his four volumes of 3,644 original verses can be included.

He's written a fifth with a further 950 limericks due out by next year and is heading for his sixth.

In the meantime, the council has sent him a reply and clarified that his new direct debit arrangements will include his back payments. And before it could get any worse, they also came up with a verse:

"The council can only say it regrets your bank debit went astray, But why it took so long to point out this unfortunate wrong was a computer changeover delay. We apologise most profusely and will give Mr Slim more time to pay."