MORE than 100,000 pensioners in the North are missing out on about £30 a month by not claiming council tax benefit, it was claimed today.

The Liberal Democrats released new figures which showed 28 per cent of elderly people in the region were failing to apply for the benefit from their local authority.

They claimed the scale of the problem was further proof that council tax is unfair, complex and should be scrapped.

Council tax benefit is available to people on low incomes provided they have savings of less than £16,000. Age, family size and the level of rent payments are also taken into account.

It means the level of council tax benefit varies enormously, but the average payment is £7.60 per week - or about £30 per month.

According to the LibDems, only 277,992 of the 386,100 eligible pensioners in the North are claiming the benefit, with 108,108 missing out.

Steve Webb, the LibDem pensions spokesman, said: "The fact that we need a rebate system at all is proof that council tax is unfair. And if the rebate system doesn't work, then pensioners will be the hardest hit.

"What we need is a fair local tax system, which guarantees that poorer pensioners are not faced with huge tax bills in the first place."

Mr Webb said most of the pensioners missing out were home owners who believed they did not qualify, again emphasising that the system was "fiendishly complex".

If they did claim, they could protect themselves against any future council tax rises, while the Government considered the options for future funding of local government.

The LibDems have campaigned for council tax to be replaced by a local income tax. Last month, the Government said that option was one of three under consideration.

But, the idea of a local income tax was rubbished by Tony Blair, who said it would add about 6p to people's income tax rate.