DEAR EDITOR - Once again we wait in dread for the annually ever increasing council tax which should be renamed the annual extortion tax.

Rumours are that Bromsgrove District Council will increase the tax by five per cent and the county council will increase it by the same if not more.

Why can the council make increases 250 per cent greater than the rate of inflation (2.8 per cent)? The council is spending beyond the means of the public and the question is why? Based on 10 per cent increases, council tax for band D will be £96 per annum. Based on 2.8 per cent, pensioners will get £100 increase after tax and will have £4 per annum out of their pension increase to spend on groceries etc.

Despite their poor record in running the council's affairs, they still make no attempt to be more efficient, to spend money more wisely and obviously think that there us a bottomless pit of money available from the long suffering public.

Disgusted local resident, Bromsgrove