A RAFT of court orders have been secured to pursue Poole businesses for more than £40,000 in unpaid contributions.

BCP Council successfully obtained 79 liability orders on behalf of Poole Business Improvement District (BID) over the non-payment of the levy which funds the organisation's work.

The local authority secured these orders from magistrates sitting in Poole last month.

This move gives the council more powers to recover the money owed, which totalled £40,572.11 from the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years.

A spokesman from Poole BID said: "By our member’s voting in favour of retaining Poole BID for a second five-year term in May this year, it enables us to continue to mount a positive response and to provide the mechanism for helping Poole fulfil its potential.

“It is paramount to us working in conjunction with BCP Council and other key stakeholders, to present Poole at its outstanding best, whilst continuing to attract investment and talent and bring more visitors and residents from across the area to make it their first choice for shopping and leisure.

“As part of this commitment we are obliged to ensure that the treatment of each of our levy payers is fair and consistent and to that end full details of the breakdown of expenditure can be found in our business plan on our website.

“To progress the £40,572.11 non-payment, being £12,651.04 from current year 21/22 and £27,921.07 from previous year’s liabilities as billed, is therefore the correct and proper course of action to take.”

The BID works by charging a levy on all business rate payers in the defined area on top of the usual business rates. Only those with a rateable value of £5,000 or above are included.

The current Poole BID levy at 1.5 per cent will generate around £265,000 per year, totalling around £1.325 million over the five years to 2026.

The business plan for 2021 to 2026 from Poole BID said its mission is to "work with businesses in making Poole the destination of choice to work, shop, relax and enjoy".

It adds: "We want to put our business community at the very heart of the renewal and revitalisation of the town centre."