THE Government was last night accused of trying to cover up hefty council tax rises by ordering local authorities to issue "misleading" bills.

Authorities have been told by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to calculate their council tax rises by comparing two unrelated figures.

The council tax last year included a charge for fire services.

It is being compared with this year's figure, even though fire authorities have now started levying their own council tax charge.

Darlington has the highest overall council tax increase in the region at 9.6 per cent.

But householders who glance at their bills could be forgiven for thinking the rise is only 1.1 per cent.

A breakdown at the top of the new bills shows a 1.1 per cent increase for Darlington Borough Council, a 15 per cent increase for police and a charge for the fire brigade.

Other unitary and county councils in the region have followed the same advice and broken down their bills in the same way.

Councillor Tony Richmond, Darlington Conservative group leader, said: "It gives a misleading impression on the council tax bill.

"If you look at the small print in the accompanying leaflet it does make reference to the real increase.

"But most people just read the bill and don't bother reading the small print."

Dave Hall, Darlington's assistant director of corporate services, said councils had been instructed by the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister to put the figures on the bills in a certain way.

He said: "It is not a direct comparison, but it will have been used by any unitary authority.

"What we are saying is that the 1.1 per cent is not a direct comparison.

"What we have shown on the accompanying leaflet is that on a like-for-like basis the borough council's council tax has increased by 7.9 per cent.

"We are not hiding the fact that the council tax has gone up by 7.9 per cent.

"For all that's not popular, it's not something we are seeking to hide."

A spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's office said councils had been instructed to work out the rises like that because legislation demanded it.

He said: "We put increases on bills every year so it is more transparent for bill payers.

"This year we altered the legislation slightly to allow for the fire precepts to be put on the bills but it would have been too complicated to work out a like-for-like figure because each council could have worked the increase out differently.

"We are not seeking to mislead people.

"The reason for quoting the figures like that is given on every council tax bill."