Pembrokeshire's pensioners are paying an unfair amount of council tax, says Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies.

Council tax bills in the county have just risen by 4.2 per cent after a second low annual settlement to the County Council by the Welsh Assembly Government.
This means that council tax will eat up almost a quarter of an average state pensioner's monthly income.

"Two years of poor settlements from Cardiff means that the Assembly Government has put councils in a precarious position and forced them to raise bills even higher," said Mr Davies.

"Pensioners are being disproportionately penalised by annual rises in council tax.

"Figures show that pensioners have to spend 22 per cent of their income on paying their council tax.

"Older people are paying a larger proportion of their state pension in council tax than they were a decade ago."

The Conservatives have pledged to cut all pensioners' council tax bills by £100. In total, council tax bills have risen by 73 per cent in the past ten years – and it's pensioners who have been hardest hit.

"It is the most vulnerable members of our communities who bear the brunt of these increases," added Mr Davies.