CHARITIES have raised concerns over councils' "aggressive" use of bailiffs to chase people in council tax arrears after seeing record numbers of cries for help with such debts.

StepChange Debt Charity said one in four (25 per cent) callers to its free National Debtline service in 2015 were in arrears on their council tax - up from 14per cent in 2007.

Analysis of StepChange's clients found in 2015, those with council arrears typically owed £961 - a 25 per cent increase compared with 2011. In 2011, just 14 per cent of the charity's clients had council tax arrears, but by last year the proportion had increased to 30 per cent.

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