MORE than £9m in taxes went uncollected by Barnet Council last year, according to figures released by the GMB union.

The council, which needs to save more than £6m after budget cuts this year, failed to gather £9.873m in council tax and business rates in the 2009/10 financial year.

This makes it the fifth worst offender in London after Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Croydon and Southwark.

Of the cash more than £6m which went uncollected was council tax, while more than £3.5m was the non-domestic rates.

The news comes just a week after Conservative councillors congratulated themselves on collecting more than 96 per cent of council tax at the same meeting top members boosted their allowances.

Paul Hayes, GMB regional secretary for London, said: “This level of uncollected local taxes can not be accepted at a time when there are deficits in the public finances which are giving rise to cuts in public services and job losses at a time of high unemployment.”

The union has led calls for changes to collection systems to prevent short-term tenants from evading the tax by letting landlords add it to their rent.