ROSSMORE resident Julio Martinez said he was bullied by Liverpool Council staff over his septic tank although it is in proper working order.

Mr Martinez, of Twelfth Avenue, said he contested in court an infringement notice which was dismissed by the magistrate.

``An inspector came to my home and asked to inspect my tank and he wanted me to pay $110,'' Mr Martinez said through his son as interpreter.

``I didn't understand why they needed to do this because this had never been done before and our tank is in full working order.

``We have it inspected regularly anyway.

``They wouldn't explain to me why it needed to be done, and why I needed to pay for it on top of the $50 we pay for sewerage in our rates, and they wouldn't respond to our requests that they come out.

``Then they sent me an infringement notice for not complying with the inspection, which was more than $300.

``But the funny thing is we did comply with the inspection.

``After they failed to come to my house after I invited them several times, they turned up with the police and blocked off the street.

``It was horrible. They were treating me like a criminal.

``But when they checked the tank they saw that there were no problems with it at all.

``I had to take them to court to prove I didn't need to pay the infringement notice and the judge took my side and said that I didn't.

``I felt bullied and humiliated.

``It's not fair they can't treat people like this, and it was all going on for almost two years.

``It's shown me the incompetence of the council's staff.

``How can they operate like this?''

A Liverpool Council spokeswoman did not respond to questions sent on Monday afternoon about the court decision.

She said the $110 fee was adopted and charged by the council up to July 1, 2009.

``Following a review of the fees and charges as of July 1 the council adopted that the inspection fee would no longer be charged,'' she said.

But the $50 operation fee, which is attached to the rates, will be increased to $60, she said.

She said the inspections were carried out by the council to comply with State Government legislation and were done to make sure that all septic tanks were accorded with the approval issued and were not causing environmental problems.

Council general manager Phil Tolhurst said there have been problems with tanks.

``I'm not saying this is the problem in this situation, because I can't comment on that specific situation, but it is a problem in other areas so it needs to be monitored,'' he said.