The Rural Services Partnership (RSP), a coalition of 60 of the most sparsely populated country councils in England, have presented the giant letter to John Prescott, secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions (DETR).

The partnership has also sent appeals to country MPs up and down the country.

Rural councils complain they are being starved of resources because of the way they are funded by central government.

They say this leads to poor services for those living in the countryside, many of whom have to travel miles to the nearest library or medical centre.

The government, which is preparing to publish a Rural White Paper, says it does not intend to change the local grant system through which central government allocates money to local authorities until after the general election.

It is, however, conducting a long-term review of local government grants and says it is willing to look at all options.

RSP campaigns director Jon McLeod said action is needed now: "White papers tend to gather dust. They do not necessarily lead to anything. A taskforce by its very name implies a commitment to action."

'Urban bias'

Last month, the RSP published a report by independent consultant Rita Hale.

This states that bidding for grants for basic services will favour larger, urban councils who have the resources to put glossy bids together.

It also rules out linking grants to performance, saying this will mean people with poor services face a "double whammy" of having to pay higher council tax for services.

And it says regional grant distribution and a move to more specific grants are likely to favour urban councils.

The RSP fears the setting-up of Regional Development Agencies will lead to more money being allocated to urban areas, but the government claims the agencies will be closer to local needs.

The RSP also wants the government to ensure rural communities have the services they need through a "joined-up approach to rural poverty, public services and employment".

In addition, it is asking for London to be taken out of the grant system as it says the needs and population of London distorts the funding equation because of the way deprivation is measured.

Mr McLeod said: "London is strong on the particular types of deprivation used for grant alllocations. We want sparsity of population to be an indicator of deprivation."

He said the main issues facing country councils were poor access to services due to lack of public transport in rural areas, extra costs for services and the fact that their problems are less likely to get the attention of policy makers because of the isolated nature of rural communities.

The RSP says the government has acknowledged the rural poverty problem and gave country councils slightly more cash last year.

But it wants more urgent and radical action.

"This is an opportunity for the government to start treating the issue of rural poverty as a matter of priority even though they may not be the concerns of Islington residents," said Mr McLeod.

A DETR spokesman said the government took the needs of rural communities "very seriously" and had been responsible for a range of measures to combat country poverty, including increased spending on rural transport.