Council tax bills double in a decade under Labour

Londoners paid nearly £3billion in council tax last year - more than double a decade ago, figures reveal.

Data gathered by the Conservative Party shows that when Labour came to power in 1997 the total revenue raised from council tax payers in London stood at £1.4billion. This has since increased by 108 per cent to £2.9 billion.

The figure is set to rise with council tax bills due to go up by £35 on average. From April, the amount paid by a typical household will increase from £1,258 to £1,293.

Ken Livingstone's share of the tax, which includes contributions to the police and fire brigade, will rise by 2.4 per cent, or £7.38. This means the Mayor will receive £311.25 from people paying a benchmark band D bill.

Shadow local government minister Bob Neill said: "Gordon Brown and Labour have mercilessly picked the pockets of Londoners through council tax hikes. Sadly the public are in store for more misery with inflation-busting hikes set to come into force in April."

The Department of Communities and Local Government defended the rises. A spokesman said: "This Government is delivering a 45 per cent above-inflation increase in funding for council services. Councils in London will receive more than £140 million extra in core funding next year alone. We expect increases to be substantially below five per cent."