Council Forgets To Pay Leccy Bill

Lambeth council has been hit with an eye-watering £280,000 bill after it failed to pay for the electricity used on thousands of unmetered street lamps over a six-year period. Since 2004 the council has not paid an annual sum of £94,000 for energy used to power the lights; the total should be nearly £600,000 but EDF Energy have cut the council a deal and written off half the debt in the hope of recouping some of the money. Lib Dem councillor Jeremy Clyne accused the Labour-run council of "incompetence", which is putting it mildly. Presumably any Lambeth resident who falls behind in their council tax payments will now get a more sympathetic ear.