A former pigeon fancier who took on the tax man and won is now demanding an investigation by the Inland Revenue controller.

Dino Reardon, of The Grove, Skipton - who, ironically, is allergic to the birds - put the cat among the pigeons with his successful fight against a claim for £25,000 back tax.

The Inland Revenue said Mr Reardon owed the money for breeding birds and selling the chicks. But "pigeon lung" meant wife Olive was left in charge of pigeon rearing, and the Revenue finally backed down after 18 months.

But now Mr Reardon is in a flap because he says tax staff at Skipton have not sorted out his tax code despite his previous claim being settled last month.

Days before the Revenue dropped a commissioner's hearing into Mr Reardon's affairs, they issued him with a code 102T meaning he can receive only £1,002 before he has to start paying tax.

As a married pensioner with a state and private pension his income is £5,602 a year. Mr Reardon, 65, said when he complained about the code he was told it was because they thought he was on incapacity benefit.

"I told her I was on state pension," he said. "I went home and rang the DSS and asked them to confirm that I was not getting incapacity benefit. I later received a letter from them confirming I was not on incapacity benefit.

"I then received another letter from the Inland Revenue stating I would be getting another tax code and they advised me to see an accountant again.

"I can't believe it. It is disgusting. It seems they want me to do their work to sort out my own code. I am so angry I have written to the Inland Revenue controller asking him to investigate the whole situation."

In addition, Mr Reardon had to borrow £600 to pay his accountant's fees.

A spokesman for the Inland Revenue said they could not discuss individual cases. But as part of the Taxpayer's Charter people who were having difficulty could write to the Controller of Accounts who would investigate. There is also recourse to the Revenue Adjudicator, an impartial referee, and ultimately to the Ombudsman.

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