A PLAN to give 134,000 pensioners council tax rebates next year is to be abandoned by Kent County Council.

Conservative council leaders say they will no longer press ahead with a scheme which would have pegged increases in council tax bills for pensioners to just 2.5 per cent after taking legal advice.

KCC says it is reluctant to scrap the idea but felt it was left with no option after lawyers warned it could be challenged by other council taxpayers who wanted a discount.

The news comes ahead of this week’s announcement by the Government about the amount of money councils in Kent will get to fund services next year.

Many pensioners welcomed the idea of discounts but KCC’s scheme did not prove universally popular.

Many council taxpayers complained it was unfair to expect them to make up the difference at a time when their own bills were rising at a much higher rate then inflation. An online poll carried out by The Kent Messenger Group showed 80 per cent opposed the idea.

At the same time, district councils responsible for issuing bills made clear to KCC they had reservations about becoming involved.

Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart (Con) said: “In the light of the new legal advice we will reluctantly not be pursuing our ideas for a pensioner rebate. We will, however, be putting all our energy into keeping council tax down for everyone in Kent and will maintain pressure on the Government to help pensioners.”

He added KCC had taken on board the views of those who felt uneasy about other council taxpayers shouldering the burden.

Kent had taken legal advice in conjunction with five other county councils about its options for offering rebates.

Help The Aged said it was for central Government to conduct a “root and branch” review of the council tax. A spokesman said: “We have never favoured this method of trying to alleviate the impact on pensioners precisely because the burden would fall on others who would regard it as unfair.

Labour opposition leader Cllr Mike Eddy said: "The scheme was more about a publicity stunt than anything else. KCC wanted a stick to beat the Government with over the council tax and simply used this to do it."