Lambeth Council has called in the bailiffs an astonishing 15,103 times so far this financial year to collect unpaid council tax from the homes of defaulters.

A response to a Freedom of Information request also showed just under 30,000 court summonses were issued during the same period, at a cost to the council of £87,420.

Between April 2007 and March 2008 some 31,726 summonses were issued, and 32,580 summonses between 2008 and 2009.

However the costs are far outweighed by the sums bailiffs extracted from peoples’ homes, which currently stands in excess of £1m for the same period. Since 2007, the council recovered more than £4.2m from homes using bailiffs.

A spokeswoman for the Tulse Hill branch of Christians Against Poverty, a debt counselling charity, said the charity helped 49 new families in the Tulse Hill area alone last year.

She said: "There has definitely been an increased demand for our services since the recession really hit.

"People are often in a worse situation then they were before, and being threatened with bailiffs or eviction is more common."

She added: "It's a cliche, but your home is your castle. It's a place of refuge, so having people bang on your door to get at your things is very traumatic."

The charity said the approach between councils varied but it would generally support a more proactive approach to debt collection, where people who struggled to pay were identified early and offered support.

Lambeth Council said when residents failed to pay council tax they received two reminder letters followed by a court summons. If the case went ahead, a judge would issue a liability order, giving the council permission to take formal enforcement action.

Councillor Jim Dickson, cabinet member for finance, said the council encouraged anyone struggling to pay to contact the town hall.

He added: "This is certainly not about targeting people who are in genuine financial need, but those who can pay but try to avoid doing so.

"We have a legal duty to collect council tax, and it is only fair people who can pay their way do pay, otherwise it is the rest of us who suffer and end up footing the bill."