SIR - How pleasing it was to read the reply from Grahame Lucas in response to my letter about the extortionate increase in council tax over the past 10 years.

The total increase over this period has been 117 per cent but Worcester city is not to blame for this as its part of the council tax over the same period has only increased by 47 per cent - well done Worcester City Council, your increase is only one and a half times more than the inflation rate of 31 per cent.

I am fully aware of how council tax is made up and of the sometimes unreasonable demands made by the police and fire authorities. In 1997 I paid £740 (Band E), in 2007 I had to pay £1,606, a total increase of £866 a year.

Had council tax been increased in line with inflation then the amount payable in 2007 should only have been £970.

It is all very well for Worcester City Council to say it is not responsible for all of the increase, but at the end of the day it is the city council which prepares and sends out the annual demand. They are responsible for collecting payment and it is the city council which would pursue me, through the courts if necessary, for non-payment.

Because of this, I therefore consider that the city council and all its elected councillors (together with our MP) have a moral and social responsibility to properly represent the people and to ensure that all demands for council tax, regardless of source, are kept within the limits of inflation and the ability of people to pay.

KEITH WILLIAMS, Worcester.