BURNLEY Council wants to replace bailiffs with prize draws as part of a far-reaching review of council tax collection in the borough.

Civic leaders believe they can persuade tax payers to pay up promptly without the need for collectors hammering on residents' doors.

And one idea is to encourage folk to set up direct debit accounts in return for prizes.

Caroline Lee, head of revenue and benefits, said the review could look at "offering a modest prize draw for those customers taking up direct debit".

The review is being launched after the local authority came in the bottom quarter of all councils for its poor showing in collecting tax.

Now it will look at just how effective bailiffs are, and the cost of hiring debt collectors, when it launches the review at the Council's Better Services Scrutiny Committee meeting tomorrow.

In a report to the committee, Mrs Lee says the council is struggling to collect Council Tax payments because many residents see no problem in not paying. And chasing a "hard core" of taxpayers who don't pay wastes valuable time and money.

Mrs Lee adds: "There has been a change in attitude toward the council tax since community charge and some taxpayers see no stigma in being in debt to the local authority and indeed fall into arrears on council tax year after year."

Instead the report suggests improving the "payment culture" by encouraging more people to pay by direct debit through publicity and incentives - which could include prizes.

She adds: "There is no suggestion here that committals should not be pursued but a shift in emphasis from pursuing committals to pro-actively monitoring arrangements before they reach this stage may reap greater rewards."

Direct Debit payments are the cheapest method of collecting council tax and once set up prevent "lazy" payers who intend to pay but never get around to it.

But three veteran campaigners against the "unfair" tax today said council chiefs were missing the point by issuing the review, aimed at getting people to pay up quicker.

The trio - who call themselves the Three Musketeers - are three Burnley pensioners from Dove Court nursing home who last year led a protest campaign against council tax - said many people simply could not afford to pay quickly.

The veterans, Fred Wilson, 84, Harry McWhinney, 94 and Jim Large, 82, launched their ongoing campaign under the names of Aramis, Athos and Porthos, and took their duel with the Government to Burnley Town Centre where they urged shoppers to sign a petition.

Harry said: "Regarding paying it quicker, it's alright if the money is coming in but not everyone is on £100,000 a week. Some are having to take their time to manage."

Harry pointed out that many people are on a basic state pension but are still having to find more than £1,000 a year to pay council tax.

And he called for council tax to be scrapped adding: "It's too expensive and it's not cheap living today."

And Liberal Democrat leader Coun Gordon Birtwistle, who is backing the Three Musketeers, said: "People in Burnley are the ninth highest council tax payers in the UK. The council has to understand that some people have problems paying it when they need to pay it.

"Our policy is to scrap council tax and replace it with an income tax where people pay what they can afford and not what their house is worth."