4,500 parents in the Cardiff area refuse to pay for their children

Parents in the city area owe more than �15.6m in maintenance payments, according to the Child Support Agency (CSA).

Officials said the net was closing with 230 non-paying parents around Cardiff going to court in the past year.

The Child Maintenance Minister Lord McKenzie travelled to the capital to launch the crackdown.

There are 4,500 parents in the Cardiff area who refuse to pay for their children, the CSA said.

We're actually finding that we're tracking down more parents and therefore, we can then go on to collect the maintenance from them Andrew Bryant, CSA enforcement officer

Denise, from St Mellons in the city, said she had not received any maintenance payments for her four children since their father left four years ago.

She said: "If we received the �40 a week from him it would be really helpful.

"It would just make life a lot easier. It might be a small amount, but every penny helps."

Andrew Bryant, an enforcement officer with the CSA, said the number of people working in enforcement had quadrupled.

Mr Bryant said the CSA was using its powers "more effectively" and had closer links with the Inland Revenue and credit reference agencies.

He said: "We're actually finding that we're tracking down more parents and therefore, we can then go on to collect the maintenance from them.

'Sufficient deterrents'

"We've got many powers that we can use through the courts, that will include freezing bank accounts, forcing sale of property and probably as a last resort sending people to prison for up to six weeks."

Mr Bryant said the aim was not to see how many people could be sent to prison, but to have sufficient deterrents to make people pay maintenance.

He said: "It's sad we have to go to those lengths, but unfortunately some people force us down those roads.

"We won't hesitate to take people down that road if they refuse to pay their maintenance," he added.