AN OUTRAGED pensioner is campaigning to show how older people in Preston and South Ribble are being driven to poverty by the council tax.

Retired plumber, David Potts, 77, started a petition protesting about the 75 per cent rise in council tax since 1996 for average Band D properties.

In that time the state pension has only increased by 28 per cent.

Linda Chivers, chief executive of Preston and South Ribble Age Concern, has confirmed that many elderly people are having to choose between eating and heating their home, because of council tax costs.

Mr Potts of Holly Bank, Boys Lane, Fulwood, has already collected 200 signatures in support of his protest and is planning to present his petition to Councillor Tony Martin, finance chief of Lancashire County Council, next week.

Mr Potts said: "Council tax is eating away at my savings and I'm loathed to pay it out. I think I should pay half of what I am currently with the services they provide.

"I want this for everyone. I think council tax should at least be brought down to a decent level and then brought in line with the rate of inflation."

Preston ranks as one of the highest paying authorities in Lancashire. Money goes towards Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Police.

In the past eight years council tax for Band D properties has gone up £528.57 from just over £700 to more than £1200 now. The state pension for a single person has risen from £61.15 in April 1996 to its current figure of £77.45 per week.

Mrs Chivers said Age Concern gets dozens of calls from pensioners who cannot afford to live from day-to-day because of rising council tax.

She said: "Council tax is driving elderly people to poverty. Already a lot of them have cut out their social lives and now they are having to make a choice between heat and lighting or food."

Jim Carr, chief executive of Preston City Council said: "My council understands the plight of individuals on fixed incomes. The government's council tax benefits system should alleviate the burden but we recognise that it's not always as sensitive as it should be.

"The council has needed to increase its spending to cover inflation and to support the social, economic and environmental regeneration of the city but the government grant has not risen in tandem.

"This puts pressure on the level of council tax. Of course over 80 per cent of what the council collects in council tax is done so on behalf of the county council and police authority."

Tony Martin, cabinet member for resources at Lancashire County Council, said: "Our council tax rate increases have been lower than the UK average and next year I'm proposing to increase it by 3.5 per cent which will be the lowest in the country.

"We do need more money because we are providing more services. I do sympathise with the pensioners and I urge anyone struggling to contact welfare rights department to see if there are any benefits as an awful lot of people are unaware of money they could be claiming."

Geoff Roper, chair of the Police Authority's Resources Committee, said: "I believe that Lancashire people do not expect to get their policing on the cheap. We are starting from too low a base and we must have the courage to put that right as soon as we can."

This year's council tax figures for Preston and South Ribble are expected to be set at the end of February.