HUNDREDS of people in the Durham area have signed a petition calling for the scrapping of council tax.

The Liberal Democrats, who control the city council, are running a national campaign, against the tax, which helps fund local services.

The party says that if it was in government it would replace the council tax, which has risen above the rate of inflation in recent years, with a local income tax.

The 2,500 signatures collected in the Durham area will be handed to the party's leader, Charles Kennedy.

Council taxpayers in the city area have seen their bills rise by at least £50 while the city council is having to cut £900,000 in spending because, it says, this year's Government grants are inadequate.