Council tax cheats are being tracked down using the latest data-matching technology.

Broadland District Council is working with UK credit reference agency Equifax to check the details on 15,000 people in the district who claim the 25pc single resident discount on council tax.

The crackdown cross-matches data held by Equifax to confirm whether people live alone and are legitimately entitled to the discount, or whether they are cheating the system because two or more adults live at the address.

Alan Mallett, Broadland's finance portfolio holder, stressed people who were genuinely eligible for the discount had nothing to fear from the groundbreaking technology.

But he added: 'We will not tolerate people who try to cheat the system and their neighbours, and therefore put an unfair burden on those who pay their full council tax liability. This technology enables us to ensure that people who try to abuse the system are found out.

'It will confirm the status of people who are genuinely living alone, but we will certainly be following up cases where the data-matching indicates that discounts are in doubt.'

People who want to query their council tax bill should call 01603 430600 or 430601.