Hundreds of people who are behind with council tax payments in one area of Devon will find reminders in the post over the next few weeks. East Devon District Council is dealing with a nine month backlog of cases.
It was installing a new computer system and decided to concentrate efforts on transferring information in time for 2004's bills to be sent out instead.
People with debts of over �300 are being targeted first and letters are being sent out in batches of 50 a week.
'No surprise'
The council suspended chasing tax payers for non-payment in November last year.
It said it had taken longer than expected to get the new system up and running and it was only in the last week that it had begun to chase non-payers.
As a result, the amount of outstanding debts has doubled from �1m in April 2003 to �2m in April 2004.
The council's Corporate Director for Economy, Diccon Pearse, said the letters should not come as a surprise to those who receive them.
He said: "Everybody is aware of their obligations to pay.
"They will have all received a bill and will know if they paid us or not, so people should be aware if they have arrears."
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