A Norfolk council has been forced to write off a fashion chain's debts worth more than £50,000.
Norwich City Council agreed to write off the business rate debts of Genus UK Ltd, the owners of the Select clothing stores after the company entered a corporate voluntary arrangement (CVA).
CVAs let a company in financial difficulty organise a voluntary arrangement to repay all or part of its debt over a fixed period of time.
A report to the council's cabinet said the write-off was worth £53,735.56, with the company having paid off just £839.83 of its debts.
Across the UK the company owed almost £10m.
At a meeting of Norwich City Council’s cabinet, Paul Kendrick asked his colleagues to approve the write-off.
He said: “This authority does its best to collect business rates - obviously it’s important for the funding of local government.
“There does come a point where some you can’t collect.”
Council leader Alan Waters added the council “never forgets” a debt and they have successfully managed to claim them back after a write-off in the past.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here