BRADFORD Council has ruled out a tax break for vulnerable groups because it says it cannot afford it.

The authority's executive met yesterday to decide whether to exempt disabled people, carers or lone parents from paying Council Tax.

The meeting heard that exempting disabled people would cost the Council £1 million, exempting carers would cost £500,000 and exempting lone parents would cost £700,000 in uncollected tax.

But the executive decided against any of these options, instead continuing with its current arrangements.

Council leader Councillor David Green said given the cuts to local government spending, it wouldn't be feasible to make these changes.

He said: "I think there's nobody in this room who, in a different financial climate, wouldn't want to give greater protection to some of the most vulnerable groups in our community."