I READ the letter "Peg Council Tax rise to the rate of UK inflation" by David Haworth.

I wrote a like-minded article about council tax some time ago and described it as a portion of expenditure on a "pie" chart.

As David Haworth stated, on my description, that section of the "pie" will become ever larger as time goes on, inevitably causing further hardship as less can be afforded on essentials and "treats" such as needed holidays.

What annoys me is the persistant use of, generally speaking, "in excess of inflation" eg "certain top earners will get an increase of (say) 17pc above inflation. Such and such will increase so many per cent above inflation". So what actually is inflation? Is it a case of "how long is a piece of string?"

If (God forbid) the euro is adopted, the council tax (and everything else) will go up, moreso as costs will be "rounded up", as happened with decimalisation. With the "daft" price of houses, mortgages will become more difficult to pay off. D Haworth has faltered in an otherwise sensible letter by stating that there should be more new houses built to contribute to the council tax. This I and like-minded people are dead against as there are far too many new houses, especially in Westhoughton.

The current prices of houses are artificially too high due to interest rates being too low, penalising those relying on nest eggs to supplement their income. We at Westhoughton have been let down badly by the council's decision to allow houses to be built on Fish Fold. I'd have preferred the council to buy land to block developments and pay extra council tax. But, over 30 years, they have let all the horses bolt and not bothered to lock the gates!

B Howarth

Alexandria Drive

Westhoughton