POLITICAL chiefs in Merseyside are considering scrapping council tax for pensioners, the Daily Post can reveal.

Officials in Liverpool and Wirral are examining a range of exemptions for certain groups of pen- sioners, in an effort to protect the poorest elderly people in the region.

Council leaders in Wirral are in favour of reducing tax for the elderly but are concerned it would lead to a flood of people suing the council for discrimination.

Liverpool councillors voted to consider scrapping tax for the elderly after a motion was put forward by the Labour group.

The motion calls on the council to look at scrapping tax for the following five groups of elderly people:

* Pensioners who currently qualify for some degree of council tax rebate;

* Those who just miss out on rebate but do not have a sufficient work pension;

* Disabled pensioners;

* Elderly people with war pensions;

* Pensioners who have recently lost a spouse.

Labour councillor Steve Munby said: "This provides an opportunity to provide a fairer tax system.

"Pensioners play an important role in our society and we have a responsibility to look after them."

But a council spokesman warned any exemptions would be difficult to introduce.

Wirral council leader Steve Foulkes said he supported pensioner tax waivers.

"The only problem is the Government has not given us the legal protection from lawyers who may say exemptions discriminate.

"We will now fully investigate the legal position."

Charlie Crute, 80, Merseyside delegate for the National Pensioners' Convention, said: "This would be a great thing if they went for it. Obviously, it is something which needs a lot of debate and discussion."

Other local authorities in the Merseyside and Cheshire region said the scrapping of council tax for pensioners - either entirely or in part - was under consideration.

At Warrington, council leader Mike Hughes warned that such a move was "unlikely", given the tight budget the authority was operating under.

His counterpart at Halton, Coun Tony McDermott, said: "There are a number of options we are looking at as part of our efforts to alleviate the burden of council tax generally."

Coun David Martin, leader of Sefton Council, said: "We are currently looking at the whole situation of council tax for pensioners.

"Most people will have every sympathy for them, but we have to look at the knock-on effect for all council taxpayers."