A PENSIONER has declared she would rather go to prison than pay a fine for not renewing her car tax.

Kirsty Cameron, 70, of Heather Close, Westbury, is refusing to pay an £80 fine because she says she was unable to renew her tax after it took eight weeks for the DVLA to return a crucial form.

She said: "It was due at the end of February. I went to the post office and they told me I had to have a car registration form. I duly sent off £19 to the DVLA but it wasn't until April that I got the form back.

"Then they sent me a letter saying I owed £80 for not taxing the car. I thought it was diabolically insane. I wrote to them immediately and said I wouldn't pay it. I would rather go to jail on principle."

Last Monday Mrs Cameron appeared at Trowbridge County Court, where her case was adjourned until December 11, to give the DVLA time to find out when they received the cheque.

But according to Mrs Cameron, the cheque was cashed weeks before she received the form.

"I don't understand why the form took eight weeks and I don't know why they need six weeks to find out when they received the cheque," she said.

"There's now £20 on top for court fees plus any more costs they add after the next appearance. I'm determined not to pay it."

Mrs Cameron only uses her car once a week, on a Monday to go shopping, and said she had never had an accident since she started driving in 1968. She has only once been stopped for speeding, in an incident two years ago. She was driving at 60mph in an area where she thought the limit was 40mph.

Her car was also off the road for two months in the summer and Mrs Cameron believes this should cancel out the time when her car was not taxed.

"I think they're being outrageously unfair. It's a travesty of justice. I know I'm right and I don't see how they can take me to court when they must know they're in the wrong," she said.

A spokesman for the DVLA said he was unable to comment on individual cases but that Mrs Cameron would not be entitled to any refund for the time her car was off the road.

"A refund of vehicle excise duty does not hinge on whether a vehicle was or was not used by a particular person. Evidence of non-use, no matter how reliable, is never accepted. There is no entitlement to claim a refund in retrospect on the basis that a vehicle was not or could be used," he said.

He added the maximum penalty for not paying the tax was £1,000 and that people were advised registration forms should be returned within two weeks if the customer is already recorded as the car's keeper and four weeks if there has been a change of owner.