Bradford Council has called off private bailiffs - drafted in to collect millions of pounds in unpaid poll tax - in the face of fury from hundreds of residents.

Pandemonium broke out as the letters arrived telling families that Manchester-based bailiffs Madagans would arrive on their doorsteps tomorrow with furniture removal vans to seize goods and auction them off.

In some cases warning letters from Madagans were said to have been delivered to practically whole streets of houses.

But the Council asked the company to put the operation on hold after the Telegraph & Argus, advice centres and Council offices across the district were inundated with calls. Officers say it will give them a chance to check out the deluge of queries from people.

To make matters worse, families who received the letters were given two telephone numbers to ring Madagans if they wanted to offer money - but the lines were almost permanently jammed. The Telegraph & Argus tried to get through to the company for one-and-a-half days without success.

But a spokesman from Bradford Citizens Advice Bureau said people should contact them urgently and they would arrange realistic weekly payment with the company. The Council followed the example of many other local authorities, including Leeds, by bringing in a professional hit squad to recoup the £4.5 million debt. It can then be used to offset the Council tax.

The unpaid poll tax goes back to 1990 and many people said they had completely forgotten about it or that the Council had made a mistake.

But the Council says people who received 28,000 initial letters from the bailiffs before Christmas, asking them to arrange for payment, or the final letters this week had been given numerous warnings beforehand.

However, James Searle, 49, of Dawnay Road, Canterbury, said the letter had come out of the blue and he had believed his poll tax was paid in with his Social Security benefits.

He said the street was in an uproar because most of his neighbours had received letters. "It's ridiculous. The street would be full of furniture vans," he added.

Ann Simpson of St Mary's Avenue, Bradford, said she was horrified to receive a letter for her son Darren who had moved out two years ago.

And John Atkinson, 35, a salesman of Heron Close, Queensbury, said: "The letters are appalling. I thought my rent included poll tax. People are going ballistic."

Bradford Council Assistant Director Philip Walker said they had told the bailiffs to stop temporarily while they dealt with the flood of inquiries and it would also give people a chance to get advice or make arrangements to pay.

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