Hundreds of thousands of pounds of council tax was written off in Medway last year.

Officials at Medway council gave up chasing £278,000 in 2007 after deeming the collection of the funds a lost cause.

Medway's decision to cancel the debt helped contribute to a national loss of £130million.

As a region, the South East contributed to the loss with £17.1 million of unpaid debts.

Medway Council's portfolio holder for finance Cllr Alan Jarrett defended the loss.

He said: "This is the lowest write off of council tax for the last five years. Writing off council tax is a last resort and this latest amount shows just how seriously we regard the collection of council tax."

But a spokesman for pressure group the Tax Payers' Alliance called the loss shocking.

He said: "At a time when pensioners are being sent to jail for not being able to pay relatively small amounts, it is shocking that councils are happy to write off millions.

"Council tax is putting an unsustainable burden on ordinary families, and allowing this hole in the budget to continue adds to that burden."