CRITICS have accused the council of leaving vital services unnecessarily underfunded after it failed to collect millions of pounds in unpaid tax.

The authority is currently owed more than £6.5 million in council tax and business rates - which residents say could have been used to plug urgent funding gaps.

The figure, which was revealed by the GMB union, will come as a shock to campaigners who have called for improvements to the borough's potholed roads and broken pavements - which currently face a £70 million backlog of repairs.

The Guardian revealed in March that one in three paving slabs in Redbridge were broken - one of the highest proportions in London - and that potholes in some roads may not be fixed for decades at the current rate of repair.

Wanstead pensioner Cynthia Saggers, 76, broke both her arms after tripping on loose paving in Cambridge Park last year, but said the council has still not repaired the site.

She said: "The pavements around here are in a bad state, and yet the council hasn't done anything about it.

"I don't know whether I should say this, but I'm really p***** off about it."

Mum-of-two Helen Coughlan, who cares full-time for her severely disabled mother, said the money could have been spent on giving more people access to social services.

She said: "That's an unbelievable amount of tax to have left uncollected.

"Maybe if they had bothered to collect taxes properly they wouldn't have had to raise the minimum level of care needed to get social services from 'substantial' to 'greater substantial' to save money a couple of years ago.

"They could even have used the money to give carers a bit of extra help each week."

Scott Shillum, who has led a campaign for urgent improvements to a dilapidated play area in Christchurch Green, Wanstead, said the figure was 'outrageous.'

He said: "This is totally unacceptable.

"It would cost around £50,000 to bring this play area up to scratch but the council said there is no money in the pot to do this.

"Now we know why."

Kerk Davies, of South Woodford Business Partnership, said the recession could be to blame for the shortfall.

He said: "Obviously the council has to take responsibility for making sure these taxes get collected, but lots of businesses simply can't afford to pay their rates at the moment."

A council spokeswoman said: "The total amount of Council Tax and business rates to be collected in 2008/09 is in excess of £170m.

"The impact of unpaid sums on council tax is quite small and we still expect to achieve our collection target in time.

"The majority of money is collected within the financial year and we continue to collect any unpaid sums in subsequent years. The council takes a strong line against tax payers who deliberately avoid paying and uses a range of measures to recover sums including court summons, bailiff action, attachment of earnings and committal.

"Collection rates were slightly lower than expected in 2008/09 because of the effects of the recession.

"Business rates is a national tax arrangement and does not have a direct impact on the council's finances."