Leisure charges across the district are expected to increase - mainly because income at an outdoor pool was thousands of pounds below target.

People will pay more for activities including sport, swimming and keeping fit after takings at Ilkley Lido were £58,000 below what was expected - due to the poor summer.

But the hardest hit will be people paying for cremations and burials with an inflation busting 8.2 per cent increase.

Today Councillor Allan Hillary (Bolton, L1beral Democrat) said: "It is an unacceptable tax on people when they are at their most vulnerable."

Leader of the Council's Tory group, Councillor Margaret Eaton, accused Labour of "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

She said: "The controlling group manages to find the money for things it wants like anti-stress plans but Council taxpayers are being hit yet again."

The cost of cremation will rise from £193 to £209, while burial will increase by £22 to £300.

The proposed increase will be considered at Bradford Council's Leisure Services Committee on Friday. Price rises of between the rate of inflation and 5.7 per cent will be slapped on most services.

But the Council's Passport to Leisure scheme giving concessions to thousands of people who are unemployed and those on benefits will not be affected.

The proposals also include a 7p per day library fine, an increase of 2p, a 10p rise for swimmers per visit and a general 3.2 per cent rise for other indoor sports. If councillors give the proposals the thumbs-up, it is expected to raise an extra £65,000.

Councillor Barry Thorne, chairman of the committee, said that the Brad-ford district still offers value for money. He said: "We compare very favourably with adjoining local authorities.

"We also offer Passport to Leisure for people on benefit and unemployed, which for just £2 can save a lot of money.."

But Councillor Hillary said there had been a continuous decline in attendance of around 100,000 people at all the sports centres and swimming pools since 1995.

"But instead of trying to stop this decline, it seems that someone has decided the best way to raise cash to replace the missing 100,000 is to target the one service that everyone in the district will finish up using - burials and cremations."

Tim Mahoney, secretary of the Leeds section of the National Association of Funeral Directors, said the rise seemed high but the Council had done extensive work on the district's crematoria.

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