A SOLICITOR who was summonsed to court for non-payment of council tax says he will sue City of York Council for loss of earnings.

James Hodgson, who is self-employed, says he will fight the authority in the small claims court, after attending York Magistrates' Court to explain alleged council tax arrears on a rental property.

Mr Hodgson was one of more than 100 people who crammed into court, nearly a fortnight ago, as the authority looked to help bridge its budget gap by enforcing council tax payments.

But Mr Hodgson is disputing the amount of the debt, saying he had written to the council four times over the past year to explain his position, but claims he receieved no replies from the authority.

Now, he is to take civil action against the council, saying he has lost a day of consultancy fees, worth more than £1,000, from a lucrative contract in London.

He says a council official he met at the magistrates court told him there had been no need for him to appear at the court.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said it was unclear as to why Mr Hodgson attended, but he says because the solicitor was contesting the claim, and had written to the council requesting an adjournment without reply, he attended as directed by his summons.

Mr Hodgson said he now wanted to hear from other people who were in the same situation who also wanted to pursue a claim against the authority.

He said: "When I arrived at the magistrates court it was utter chaos.

"A significant number of the people summonsed were, like myself, self-employed and therefore losing valuable time.

"Nothing happened at all for over an hour with people lined up outside the court and on the stairs on either side of the court room.

"Eventually, after over an hour, I managed to speak to a council officer and explained my position.

"She informed me that there had been no need for me to attend court as my dispute could be dealt with by way of correspondence. I pointed out that I had been trying to do so for the past 12 months.

"I therefore wasted a full morning in the magistrates court as did many other people.

"What an utter shambles and a complete waste of ratepayers' money. I shall be bringing a claim against the council for loss of earnings. I am so angry I have to take the action

" I tried to have the case adjourned, to no avail, and when I got to court, my name wasn't even on the list. This is a lot of money."

The council spokeswoman said: "All summons documents issued to people in council tax arrears state that people can save themselves the time and expense of attending court.

"There has been correspondence between the council and Mr Hodgson in a bid to resolve this matter, so it is not clear why he still chose to attend court that day."

Anyone who wants to contact Mr Hodgson can email him at james@ashworth.com

Updated: 10:06 Monday, October 25, 2004