My Council Tax bill has just been delivered and demands £2536.67, which shows my house is in Band G.

"Serves you right," some people may say, "for living in an expensive house. You must be able to afford it." Not so. My wife and I bought our house in 1971 for just over £15,000, when we were both in full-time employment. We are now both retired on a fixed income with, at 75, no hope of further employment. But our council tax (unlike our income) increases each year, thus depressing our standard of living.

Furthermore, it is based, not on our demands or needs for council services, not on our ability to pay, but on a mythical and irrelevant "value" of the home we occupy, which is determined (as you might expect) by central government and has increased through no fault or desire of our own.

Hidden in the explanatory booklet which accompanies the bill is the news that I will have to pay £31.50 each year for the next ten years for the privilege of funding the 2012 Olympic Games. Of course, you will not find this figure in the booklet. All of the minimal charges we have to pay refer to Band D. I wonder how many Band D houses there are in Kingston. Better still, will the Council publish the proportions of Bands A to H houses in Kingston?

Michael Rostron Morecombe Close, Kingston