While those of us fortunate enough to have decent jobs may be able to absorb the vastly above inflation rise in Council Tax for the third year running, I still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that if I spend my money improving my home (thus spending money in the local economy) rather than spending it on foreign holidays, I have to pay more tax. What's more, I have to continue paying this ever inflating tax even when I retire and stop earning.

Above inflation Council Tax rises combined with serious negative interest on all the pensions, PEPs, ISAs and savings bonds (which the Governement persuaded me to invest in so as to secure my future) means that by the time I retire, I'll be lucky if my life savings amount to enough to pay the Council Tax for 20 years, let alone luxuries such as water, heat, light, home mainten-ance and maybe even food!

Surely this insanity has to stop and we must all lobby for a new tax system where retired people get more than a token reduction in their Council Tax bill. After all, we'll all be in that position someday.

If not, people may be forced into devising their own ingenious solutions to late life poverty.

One is to sell up, take your money and move abroad to a country with a more realistic local tax level, such as Turkey, where the homeowner's tax is around £1 per year.

The other alternative is to exploit the new tougher firearms laws and get hold of a replica shotgun. You can use this to stage a holdup of any building society or post office that takes your fancy without risking hurting anyone, then when you are taken away by the men in blue, you can count on a mandatory jail sentance which, while clearly not a hotel, will be warm, there will be food and there will be healthcare, especially if you're getting on in years. What's more, you don't have to pay Council Tax and your place there is not means tested!

If by any chance you get away with the money (we see very few police here even though we pay around 10 per cent of our Council Tax for their services), you can pay your Council Tax bill with your ill-gotten gains.

The older you get, the more attractive this seems. Nobody dies of hypothermia in prison!

Paul White, Malvern Link.