Colin and Maureen Smith, who accidentally overpaid the rates bill for a property they own in the parish, said yesterday that the Constable of St Clement, Derek Gray, had decided not to pursue the matter further.He had initially set a debt collection agency on to the couple after they overpaid their rate.
They told him to keep the overpayment as a gift to the parish, but were told by parish hall staff that the computer would not accept it.Mr and Mrs Smith last week accused the parish of ‘bureaucracy gone mad’, but said yesterday that they had agreed to make only a limited comment once the matter was settled.Mrs Smith said: ‘I would just hope that in the future common sense will prevail, and that nobody, particularly the more elderly and vulnerable, will find themselves in this situation.’She would not be drawn on the details of the settlement, but Mr Gray said later that the matter had been resolved not directly between the parties, but through the Constable of Grouville, Dan Murphy.
‘Everybody has agreed to make no other comments other than it has now been resolved,’ said Mr Gray.
‘We did it through the good offices of the Constable of Grouville.’
