OLDER citizens' groups have hit out at the sharp rises in council tax in York and North Yorkshire.

Representatives of York Older People's Assembly, Age Concern and Help The Aged have all spoken of the pressures placed on older people with the recent sharp rise.

The level of council tax in York has this year risen by 13 per cent, with even steeper increases in other parts of North Yorkshire.

Tony Martin, executive committee chairman of York Older People's Assembly, said: "It is difficult for people to be positive when they are being clobbered by a council tax increase more than four times higher than pension increases.

"It is raising lots of comment from our members, who are seeing their pensions rise by coppers, but their taxes go up in pounds."

The matter has been the subject of a national report by Help The Aged, studying the impact of the rises around the country.

A Help The Aged Spokesman said: "Older people face a year-on-year quadruple whammy from this iniquitous tax.

"Help The Aged would like to see a real commitment from the Government to end pensioner poverty, and a pledge to reform council tax would be a good start."

The study also shows that many people who own their own homes struggle, with almost 40 per cent of people in this group not claiming council tax benefits they are entitled to. York Older People's Assembly president Professor Graham Moody supported this finding.

He said: "It is often people in the middle, not the very poorest, that are hit the hardest by these increases. To try and help this, we now want to know if the Government takes these issues into account when they set benefit levels and accessibility, whether they really think of the impact these things have on people."

Age Concern's deputy chief officer in York, James Player, said: "This is the wrong kind of give and take, with small pension increases but sharp tax rises." The rises in council tax in both York and North Yorkshire are partly due to a significant increase in the North Yorkshire Police precept, which has been justified by the need for more officers and modernisation of the force.

North Yorkshire County Council chiefs have partly blamed a new system of Government funding for their tax rise, while City of York Council says it still has one of the lowest tax levels in the area.

Updated: 11:30 Monday, March 31, 2003