Nick Raysford is due to announce the consultation

"They should be paying the full council tax and in some ares they should be paying rather more than that.

"We have to discourage the taking of houses out of the market for local communities."

The 50% council tax discount means the area is missing out on an extra �2m every year.

Nationally, it is estimated the proposed change could raise as much as �175m a year from 250,000 second homes.

Mr Collins added he would like to see the extra funds in the Lake District spent solely on new housing for local people.

Economy boost

But Paul Liddell, who runs a holiday homes letting agency, said they can provide a vital income for the local economy

He told BBC Radio 4: "Second homes can be used for letting purposes or they can just be used as second homes for the owners.

"The 150 [properties] we look after contribute greatly to the local economy by the tourists coming to the area and spending their money at different facilities."

Plans to abolish the discount were revealed in the Rural White Paper published last year.

But the Paper promised that those affected would be consulted before the proposal was put to Parliament.

Local government minister Nick Raynsford was due to announce the scope and timescale of the consultation on Friday.

It is thought he will make it clear the government wants to offer local authorities discretion on whether they choose to levy the full tax or charge it at half-rate on holiday homes.