PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has been slammed by North Yorkshire MP Anne McIntosh over imminent high council tax increases across our region.

Miss McIntosh launched her scathing attack on Government stealth taxes, as householders throughout York and North Yorkshire braced themselves for over-inflation rises.

She singled out Hambleton District as among the biggest sufferers.

The cross-party Local Government Association (LGA) has predicted that council tax bills across England will soar by four per cent from this April, following a snapshot of the draft budgets of 100 town halls.

Miss McIntosh said: "Gordon Brown's fingerprints are all over the doubling of council tax bills under Labour, making it his sneakiest stealth tax. The hikes have been forced up by Whitehall, leaving Hambleton's councillors to take the blame when the ever-more weighty bills hit the doormat.

"Gordon Brown's fiddled funding and new duties imposed on local councils will mean more yet more money snatched from people's pensions and pay packets. Labour's only plan is to hike taxes yet further - with new bin taxes on the way."

Miss McIntosh said the blame must be put with the extra regulations and burdens on local councils imposed by Whitehall "without proper funding".

She said: "Unfunded burdens the LGA has identified include the rising costs of social care due to an ageing population, extra costs of waste and recycling due to European Union and Whitehall directives, the under-funded cost of free bus travel, transferring costs for family court hearings to councils and new 24-hour licensing laws."

In Hambleton, council tax bills have already risen by 141 per cent over the past ten years.

Miss McIntosh also highlighted the disparity between England and her native Scotland.

Alex Salmond's ruling Scottish National Party has agreed a deal with Scottish authorities that will see council tax frozen.

She said: "A typical home in England will pay an estimated £1,374 on Band D from April, equivalent to £115 a month. Scotland, on the other hand, will enjoy a tax freeze, with the same Band D home only paying £1,149."