TWO people have been prosecuted for making false applications for reductions in their Council Tax.

At Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on August 28, John Picton-Clark, 59, of Bure Close, St Ives, pleaded guilty to three charges under the Fraud Act 2006.

He had been claiming a single person’s reduction in his Council Tax in 1993, but had rented rooms out at his home and, for a period of time, had a partner living with him.

The court heard that people had lived at Picton-Clark’s address between 2008 and 2012, but he never reported this to Huntingdonshire District Council and had avoided paying �1,100 in Council Tax. He has made arrangements to repay the money.

Magistrates gave him a �240 fine and ordered him to pay �400 costs.

On the same day, Samantha Smalley, 41, of St Mary’s Court, Eaton Socon, pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud.

She had told HDC in May 2011 that she would be vacating her property to live in Spain, but an investigation into her claim revealed that she had never left the UK. Smalley avoided paying �714 in Council Tax.

Peter Vialls, for Smalley, said that his client had acted out of character and that she “desperately regrets her actions”. Arrangements had been made for her to repay the money. Magistrates gave her a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay �200 costs.