MARVELLOUS, isn't it, the continuing kid-glove treatment that's given to council tenants behind with their rent?

Only the other week, we had Burnley MP Peter Pike complaining about the bad timing of public sector housing occupants who were in arrears being leaned on by their landlords at Christmas.

Now, we have debtors in Hyndburn being given £200 to quit homes on the Within Grove estate at Huncoat which the Council wants to demolish.

It might be the case that tenants who have kept up with their dues are morally entitled to recompense for having to get out, but how can that be the case for those in arrears?

They have not lived up to their obligations, so what is the justification for them being rewarded with £200 being written off what they owe at the expense of taxpayers who do meet their responsibilities?

Fair? Give over! Helping the needy? Oh, really - when this package also comes with paying 'reasonable moving expenses' such as TV satellite dish reinstallation? I would have thought that if you could afford a satellite TV, you could reasonably be expected to afford your rent as well.

But, then, again, I live in the cosy world where if I don't pay my mortgage, the building society knocks a few hundred quid off what I owe, don't I? Not!