Protesters want a system based on an individual's ability to pay

Members of the Is It Fair campaign held protest banners and blew whistles as they marched through the capital.

Halfway through the march, campaigners handed a 60,000-strong anti-council tax petition to Number 10 Downing Street.

Organiser Christine Melson called for council tax to be abolished and replaced with a system based on an individual's ability to pay.

She said: "We're protesting about the weight of the council tax in this country and we want this council tax to be replaced with something that is affordable."

Payment refusal

After handing in the petition, protesters pinned shirts with the words "Blair taking the shirt of the back of the elderly" to fences outside Downing Street.

Some of the marching pensioners have refused to pay council tax bills in protest at an average 12% rise nationally.

David Hobbs, 70, from Hampshire, said he could not afford to pay his full bill.

"I can't afford to pay my council tax but I'm paying what I can at the present time," he said.

"I owe �1,500 a year but I'm on a pension and my wife's on a disability pension.

Fellow protester Colin Caton, also 70, said his pension had remained the same while his council tax had risen.

"Our disposable income is just getting less and less," he said.

Independent inquiry

People who refuse to pay their council tax bills face the possibility of jail.

Pensioners had previously marched at a similar Is It Fair London march in January.

In July, local government minister Nick Raynsford said council tax should be retained but reformed to make it fairer.

He was speaking after a report was published on local taxation.