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A Solihull man was astonished when letters claiming that his two-year-old son owed hundreds of pounds in council tax dropped through the door.

Jeff Lee, from Castle Bromwich, was surprised when the post, addressed to his youngest boy Benjamin, was delivered last week.

And he was even more puzzled to find inside enforcement letters, warning that the toddler was in arrears for two properties he was purported to own in other parts of the borough.

Fortunately the father-of-five saw the funny side of the blunder, although he is at a loss to how the warnings wound up addressed to someone who has yet to start school never mind get on the property ladder.

"I was just amused," said Mr Lee, aged 44.

"It's a bit of a mess-up, but at the same time I did ask [if] there was a serious aspect to it from a credit perspective. When he grows up will this be on his file? I hope not.

"With all the stuff that is going on at the minute, we needed something to give us a good chuckle."

(Image: Jeff Lee)

One of the letters, from Solihull Council's income and awards team, suggested that Benjamin owed £99.67 in connection with a house in Dorridge

While a second warning from Jacobs, the bailiffs that the council uses to chase outstanding debts, said that he needed to pay £817.35 in relation to a separate address in Elmdon.

Mr Lee, who has lived in the borough for around ten years after moving over from Canada, said that he called the council for an explanation and was told officers were looking into how the mix-up happened.

(Image: Jeff Lee)

And he couldn't resist sharing the notices of enforcement on Twitter, tweeting a couple of photos to the council's official account.

Noting the fact that his son was supposed to have a house in Dorridge, one of Solihull's most expensive villages, he said: "My two-year-old must be pretty entrepreneurial! Unbelievable!!!"

He also praised staff for handling his query in a "friendly, kind and helpful way."

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A Solihull Council spokesman confirmed that "an incorrect address" was the cause of the error.

"This has now been removed from our records and we apologise to Jeff Lee for any distress and inconvenience that this issue has caused," they added.

It's not the first time a local authority has made a mistake with a demand.

Last month it was reported that a man from Greenock, Scotland was told he had racked up a £2,000 council tax bill over a seven year period - despite having spent the majority of his time recently in West Africa.

And in a separate case on Merseyside, publicised in January, a woman was said to have suffered 20 seizures after wrongly being threatened with bailiffs.

Solihull Council is encouraging residents to sign up for an online council tax account and switch to paperless billing.

Every year the council uses about 320,000 sheets of paper to send out council tax information.

Residents can now create an account via the council website www.solihull.gov.uk/counciltax to view their council tax details online, sign up for paperless billing and access their information at any time of the day or night.