A LOCAL campaign to obtain fair distribution of Government grants to local authorities and abolish council tax has gone national.

And it is planning to take its grievances to the European Court of Human Rights.

Launched in March by Headley residents Christine and John Melsom, the "isitfair" campaign has sparked a national rebellion with people across the country demanding that "the government put a stop to out-of-control and unaffordable rises in council tax."

Having already featured on Meridian television, following a public meeting in Alton, local campaigners joined others from Devon on the BBC Six O'clock News programme Your Politics last week which took a critical look at the council tax protest.

On the programme, John Melsom condemned a system which took no account of people's ability to pay.

"It is very unfair, particularly on pensioners. Spending by the council is entirely controlled and ordered from Westminster and we have little or no say on what the money is spent on," he said.

In a statement this week to the national press, campaigners say that the rises must stop, with council tax being abolished and replaced by a funding system which would reflect the individual's ability to pay.

The campaign is centred on a national website http://www.isitfair.co.uk">www.isitfair.co.uk to which affiliated local action groups subscribe. L=It was launched by the Melsoms and new groups are coming on board daily as the word spreads with links now stretching from as far as North Yorkshire and Cumbria in the North to the Isle of Wight, Devon and Buckinghamshire in the South.

According to Christine Melsom, many of the hardest-hit financially are pensioners on fixed incomes who are receiving less-than-inflationary rises in their pensions.

Like John Melsom, pensioner groups across the country are refusing to pay the rises in council tax and are prepared to go to jail. In fact one group, in Axminster, is said to be fielding 200 men who say they would rather go to prison than pay the increased council tax. "Their view is that if government and local politicians will not listen, then direct action is the only answer," says Mrs Melsom.

Organisers are comparing the "isitfair" movement to the mass protests that erupted against the poll tax in the early 1990s. Only this time it's being led by pensioners, supported by those who are earning enough to put them above the benefits line but still in the low income bracket.

Locally "isitfair" campaigners have extended an open invitation, on Saturday, May 24, to attend a Speakers' Corner event in Alton's Public Gardens when a soap box will be available to those who want "to yell" about council tax issues.

The idea is to provide a platform, between 2 and 4 pm, for anyone who fears that new government legislation is forcing increases in council tax which, for whatever reason, they feel unable to pay.

On a national level, the "isitfair" campaign is calling upon people to cancel payment of their council tax by direct debit, request time to pay, pay by cheque to slow down the system and bring it to a halt "so that local and national government stand up and act on the country's view over this insidious tax," says Mrs Melsom.

Campaigners are also urging supporters to write to Tony Blair, their MP and local councillors to inform them that if council tax is not abolished within the next 12 months, they will withhold their payments and their vote at the next election.

"The power of the 'pensioners' vote' nationally is enormous," warns Christine Melsom who states that draft letters are available on the 'isitfair' website.

In Alton, Bordon, Petersfield and Farnham, 'isitfair' campaigners have already been out on the streets distributing information leaflets and inviting people to sign a petition which is to be handed in at No.10 later in the year.

Having already amassed thousands of signatures, the petition will be available for signing in the Public Gardens on May 24 and on national 'isitfair' petition day, scheduled for June 14.

To add further fuel to the fire, the 'isitfair' campaign is proposing to set up a national financial fighting fund to which individuals will be asked to contribute £5. This can be done electronically through the website and will be used, according to the Melsoms, to support a court action in the European Court against the government for the way it distributes grants to local authorities.