A HAMPSHIRE veterinary nurse claims she is being forced to trade her beloved job in for cleaning work because she cannot afford to pay her council tax bills.

Hannah Girdwood, 21, trained for four years to qualify for her post - but she has now admitted defeat and handed in her notice.

Hannah, who works at The Stable Close veterinary clinic in Winchester, is giving her whole-hearted support to protesters who are travelling to London today to join a national protest against the tax.

She will not be able to go herself because she has to work - in order to earn money to pay the bills.

"It's such a shame to have to give up a career that I love because I can't afford to survive on the money I get," she said.

Hannah lives alone in a studio flat in Northlands Drive, Abbotts Barton.

The property is in band A, the lowest council tax band.

Without vital financial support from her parents, Hannah says her situation would be impossible.

Her £12,000 annual salary does not stretch far enough to pay her bills, which include £70 council tax a month and £450 a month in rent.

Like many others, Hannah is dreading the rises in council tax bills this April.

She added: "I think I'm going to have to get a cleaning job instead, because I know that it pays more and I have to do something in case it goes up again.

"I am upset because I have only had the job for a year, and I am having to leave at a time when I am learning so much."