HOW sad I was to read the letter from Rita Wilson (May 1) regarding the plea to reduce council tax.

I have every sympathy with her as a senior citizen myself. Alas, I fear these pleas fall on deaf ears and, worse, very few of them care.

It is not just pensioners who are suffering. I know of young families already on a very stretched budget, having been lucky enough to beg and borrow to get on the housing ladder, now find they can no longer meet the ever increasing council tax.

These families have worked and really struggled to make their own way (just as we did) but now they are penalised for daring to manage on their own and not be a drain on society's purse.

We also have the young nurses and doctors who having spent years qualifying cannot get a job because there are no houses or flats within their budget. That is why so many go abroad. They get much more respect for their work.

What kind of councillors have we who do not stand up for what is right and who increase their own salary while threatening the sack and cuts in salary to our care workers? What kind of government allows this situation to continue?

MOLLY BENNETT, Bursledon.