RESIDENTS have had £8 million of poll tax debts written off by a local authority after the Scottish Government promised to introduce new laws to scrap collections of the controversial charge.

West Dunbartonshire Council was among several local authorities that indicated it would use the comprehensive electoral roll built up in the run-up to the independence referendum to chase money it was owed, including outstanding poll tax.

However, councillors have now backed a motion to scrap all collections of the community charge, which was in force between 1989 and 1993 and has now been branded a "remnant of Thatcherism" by the authority.

While the Labour-led council was owed about £8m in unpaid poll tax, it was receiving payments from residents worth £25,000 per year. The repayments will now cease.

The move pre-empts new laws the Scottish Government has promised to introduce.

First Minister Alex Salmond said last month councils would be blocked from pursuing the debts, which are estimated to be worth £425m nationally but have proved harder to collect over time.

Council leader Martin Rooney backed Mr Salmond's pledge, but said the authority must be reimbursed for the loss of income.

He said: "The poll tax was widely acknowledged as an unjust taxation system that unfairly punished the poor and eased the burden on those with the deepest pockets. People rightly opposed it and that is why it was abolished so quickly.

"We support the Scottish Government's promise to write off historic poll tax debt, but it also follows the Scottish Government should fund this decision by reimbursing West Dunbartonshire for the loss of income. Tens of thousands of local people paid their taxes and would not want essential council services to suffer from this move.

"I am pleased to see this council again take a proactive decision by scrapping the remaining debts on this historic and ill-advised tax. We now await action from the Scottish Government."

The Government has indicated councils will be reimbursed for lost income, in line with current collection rates. Although authorities are banned from pursuing debts that are more than 20 years old, the period is extended if they have previously taken formal action against an individual.

Some debtors who had been caught had long-term repayment plans. Last year, Scottish councils were repaid £396,000 in old poll tax, although a handful of local authorities had already written off such debts.

The Convention Of Scottish Local Authorities, which reacted angrily to last month's announcement from the Scottish Government, said yesterday that talks were continuing over the issue.

The Scottish Conservatives led opposition to the scrapping of poll tax debts, which was branded a "tax dodgers' charter" by critics.

The West Dunbartonshire Council motion, proposed by leader of the SNP group Jonathan McColl, said it was "time to act on our moral imperative to bury once and for all this remnant of Thatcherism" and instructed officers to halt poll tax collections with immediate effect. ­