MORE than two million poor families face significant increases in their council tax bills from next week, a charity has warned.

Research by the York-based the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows 2.4 million low-income families will pay on average £138 more in council tax in the new financial year.

From Monday (April 1), council tax benefit will be abolished and replaced by council tax support.

England's 326 local councils have had to devise their own local council tax support schemes, but with ten per cent less funding.

Pensioners are protected - meaning larger proportional cuts are passed onto working-age recipients.

Fifty-eight councils have decided on schemes that will retain current levels of support for families, but the majority (232) will demand council tax from everyone regardless of income. In-work families will pay £132 more on average compared to £140 for those not working.

The Northern Echo revealed earlier this month that up to 100,000 of the region's poorest residents would receive their first council tax demand this year because of the changes.

An Echo investigation revealed that the council tax shake-up had created a postcode lottery for the region's poor, with low earners living in some areas still receiving a 100 per cent discount.

However, other councils are asking for working-age adults living on benefits to find up to 20 per cent of the full council tax levy.

Chris Goulden, head of poverty at JRF, said: "Some of the country's poorest families must find £140 extra from their strained household budgets to pay council tax for the first time.

“Making up the shortfall will be beyond most, with working hours under pressure and benefits falling behind inflation. This tax hike will push people into poverty or cause more hardship for already very poor households, taking money from families who had little to start with."