HOMEBUYERS in the North-East paid £740 more in stamp duty last year than when Labour came to power - a 231 per cent increase in six years.

The tax on the average house purchase in the region was £1,060 in 2003/4, compared to £320 in 1997/8, according to Government figures.

The Conservatives immediately accused ministers of using stamp duty as a "stealth tax" which was "kicking a whole generation off the housing ladder".

Under Tory plans at last month's General Election, the vast majority of North-East homebuyers would have escaped stamp duty altogether through a big increase in the threshold.

But Labour has insisted property transaction costs are still much lower in Britain than in most of the European Union, or the United States.

According to the Treasury figures, the average stamp duty paid in the North-East leapt from £790 to £1,060 in just 12 months.

In Yorkshire, the average homebuyer paid £1,300 in 2003/4, compared to £370 in 1997/8 - a rise of 251 per cent over six years.

Caroline Spelman, Tory local government spokeswoman, said: "Labour has been responsible for a barrage of new stealth taxes on property.

"Soaring stamp duty, council tax hikes, cuts to the right to buy and the abolition of mortgage interest tax relief have helped kick a whole generation off the housing ladder.

"Higher taxes have made it more difficult to put down a large deposit, forcing people into a more expensive mortgage. Lab-our's claim to be improving affordability is clearly empty rhetoric."

At the last Budget, Chancellor Gordon Brown doubled the threshold for paying one per cent stamp duty from a purchase price of £60,000 to £120,000.

Higher rates of three per cent for homes worth more than £250,000 and four per cent above £500,000, both introduced by Mr Brown, remained unchanged.

The Conservatives went further by pledging to scrap duty on all purchases below £250,000 - more than the cost of an average home in almost all areas of the North-East and Yorkshire.

But experts warned that such a dramatic move risked sparking off a new round of house price inflation, which would make it even more difficult for first-time buyers.

And homelessness charities accused the Tories of "raiding the public purse to promote private home ownership", rather than increasing the supply of affordable housing.