A COUNCIL has overturned a court decision not to make a disabled veteran pay the bedroom tax for a room so small it couldn’t contain an adult single bed.

Vale of Glamorgan Council in south Wales came under fire yesterday after confirming it had “superseded” a first-tier tribunal judgement and would charge Guy Watts the tax.

The dispute has been ongoing since October last year, when the council attempted to back its decision to tax the former Royal Navy serviceman by quoting online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

This time, the authority has resorted to invoking housing benefit rules usually applied in fraud cases in order to overturn the court’s decision.

In a letter sent to Mr Watts early this month, a council worker argued that child’s bed fit into the room.

She added: “Whether or not there has been an error of law, the authority believes the decision of the first-tier tribunal given on June 25 2015 was made in ignorance of a material fact and that the outcome of the appeal would have been different if this material fact had been disclosed.”

Cardiff & South Wales Against the Bedroom Tax spokesman Jamie Insole, who has been helping Mr Watts with the litigation process, told the Star the situation was “risible.”

He said: “This attempt to use an anti-fraud regulation to overturn a judge’s decision is a UK first.

“We are currently applying to court for a direction and are confident that this attempt will be thrown out.

“Meanwhile, we would advise the Vale to refocus its nervous energy on assisting tenants, as opposed to seeking to block justice through ill-judged legal manoeuvring.”

Mr Watts, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, would be £700 a year worse off if he were charged for his home’s extra room.

A council spokesman confirmed its decision to keep charging Mr Watts, but said he could not comment further as this was an “ongoing legal matter.”