A WOMAN declared bankrupt after being taken to court for not paying her council tax by South Ribble Borough Council says she is determined to fight the decision.

Keen equestrian, Lisa Nickson, of Nookfield, Moss Side, Leyland, who ran up a bill of nearly £3,000 over two years has vowed to overturn the ruling made at Preston County Court, Ringway, Preston, on June 30.

It is the first time the authority has brought proceedings of this nature after she failed to respond to the council's repeated demands for payment.

Miss Nickson said she had a big mortgage on her former home in Stanning Close, Leyland, which she sold on May 27, to use the equity to pay off her debts.

She said: "I took out too much credit with a mortgage on my house.

"Reminders kept coming but I just didn't know what to do. I had constant headaches and the whole situation made me ill. I should have gone to the council and told them I couldn't pay but I didn't.

"I've been in contact with a solicitors in Manchester and they've told me that if I can pay the money then they will overturn the decision."

South Ribble Council bosses, who first issued Miss Nickson with a summons for the money on November 21, 2002, claimed she repeatedly avoided attempts to serve her with a bankruptcy notice, including sawing off a clamp put on her car by a private bailiff company hired by the council.

Miss Nickson said: "I didn't know it was a bailiff I just thought I'd been clamped.

"I didn't saw it off, I removed the wheel."

She was finally served with a bankruptcy notice by a member of South Ribble Borough Council's legal department on Saturday, April 16, as they drove past Miss Nickson's former property and spotted an open door.

She said her stress was only added to when her eight-year-old thoroughbred horse, Leo, died on New Year's Eve, following a fight with two horses in some stables.

She said: "I just can't believe this is happening.

"I just hope I can sort it out. I never thought it would come to this."

The Insolvency Group, an executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, confirmed Miss Nickson was declared bankrupt at Preston County Court on June 30.

Councillor Mark Alcock, portfolio holder for corporate and support services at the council, said: "This case highlights our determination to take a strong line with those who simply choose not to pay."