The council says too many residents have ignored bills

City of York Council says it is owed about �3m by householders and a further �18m by around 400 businesses.

A reminder campaign netted the council an extra �1m in payments over the last 10 days, said James Drury, head of public services.

"It was twice as much as we had hoped to collect, but we are still �3m short," he revealed.

"We don't like to reach the stage of issuing summonses but people have been given every opportunity to pay or contact us to discuss a payment plan.

"Many did, but now we need to target those who did not."