PENSIONERS in Southampton would see their council tax bills cut by up to £441 under plans unveiled today by the Conservatives.

Households where both members are aged 65 or over would get a discount covering half their annual bill - up to a maximum of £500.

Tory leader Michael Howard said: "People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in their old age, because I believe that the true test of a society is the way it treats its senior citizens.

"People face a clear choice at the election - Conservatives, who will give pensioners dignity, security and respect by cutting their council tax, or Labour, who will forget them and raise their council tax." Mr Howard said that five million pensioners nationally would receive rebates at a cost of £1.3 billion, which will come from £4 billion in efficiency savings.

The Tories claim pensioners have been hit hardest by spiralling council tax rises because they are on fixed incomes.

About a third of the increase in the basic state pension under Labour has been swallowed up by massive council tax increases.

Bills for a typical Band D home in Southampton have soared 85 per cent since 1997, from £603 to £1,176. Mr Howard added that disabled people already received a special discount and the unemployed were entitled to benefit.

He said: "What we need to do is help those who are above those limits but who are on fixed incomes and who are really struggling."

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott hit back by claiming Tory town halls would impose bigger council tax increases than their Labour counterparts.

He said the government had helped many pensioners and lifted many out of poverty since 1997.

Southampton MPs John Denham and Alan Whitehead were unavailable for comment.