AS householders, we are supposed to be pleased that the council tax is only going up £50 this year - less than £1 a week.

What isn't taken into account is that, over the last six years, our council tax has gone up by £300 - only £50 a year! What frightens me is, if this trend continues, our council tax in another six years will be a whopping £1,250 a year - approximately £25 a week.

Pensions don't go up by this amount, and council tax is becoming as much as a mortgage would have been.

What happens if you can't afford to pay it? Selling the house won't help, as we'd have to move somewhere else with the same problem. Renting a property isn't going to help either, as the landlord will have to pass these increases on.

Could there eventually be a nightmare scenario where the council tax is more than the house is actually worth?

KATHLEEN BULCOCK (Mrs), Wilkie Avenue, Burnley.