A Mitcham pensioner could be facing jail for not paying the Olympic instalment of her council tax.

Defiant 79-year-old, Olivia Webb of Sherwood Park Road, refuses to pay the £20 annual levy claiming it is unfair for pensioners to foot the mounting bill of the London 2012 Olympics.

And although Ms Webb owes just £40, she was told by magistrates that if she fails to pay up the bailiffs will come round and she could be looking at a custodial sentence.

"I don't think pensioners who will be 90 when the games are on in 2012 should have to pay this tax," said Ms Webb. "Every penny counts when you're in a situation like ours.

"I can't see our generation getting any benefit at all out of the games. Council tax should be used to provide a service for local people, I don't know what I'm going to receive from this.

"What really angers me is that businesses are going to be clashing in on the Olympics, making a lot of money. They want to talk about a legacy but how much of a legacy am I going to benefit from? I'll be 84!

"I'd like to know how many Olympic officials are even living in London paying the tax."

Merton residents living in a band D property will pay an extra £20 per year until 2016 which goes towards the predicted £9billion price tag of the London Olympics.

Ms Webb has not decided if she will continue to fight Merton council and the London Mayor's Office which is imposing the tax on all Londoners.

But she would not be the first to campaign against the levy. Last year, a group 8,000 pensioners from Bexley signed a petition against the charge, claiming London residents should not be the only ones to pay for an event benefiting the whole country.

But defending the Olympics, London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "As a result of the London Games not only will a huge area of east London be transformed into a vibrant new quarter but the whole of London will see the arrival of thousands of new homes as well as new employment, training and sporting opportunities that will benefit the capital for generations to come."