The Government today began moves to cap nine councils who it says are proposing "excessive" council tax rises.

Seven of the nine are Tory controlled: Aylesbury Vale, Daventry, Hambleton, Huntingdonshire, Mid Bedfordshire, Runnymede and Sedgemoor. In North Dorset and South Cambridgeshire no party has an overall majority.

Nick Raynsford, Local Government Minister, named the offenders in a Commons statement, in which he also stressed that the average rise across England was 4.1 per cent - the lowest in more than a decade.

The average increase on a typical home will be £47 next year, with the bill for two adults living in a Band D property rising from £1,167 to £1,214 in 2005-6.

The nine councils had however set budget rises of more than 6 per cent and put council tax up by more than 5.5 per cent, he said. They now have 21 days in which to respond before final decisions are taken.

"The message we are giving is loud and clear. High council tax increases are a thing of the past. The public will not tolerate excessive council tax increases either now, or in years to come, and neither will the Government," Mr Raynsford said.

But Eric Pickles, for the Tories, said that Labour treated the council tax as its favourite stealth tax.

"For eight years this Government has wrung its hands and done nothing. It has watched council tax go through the roof," he said.

"It has seen council tax go up by over 70 per cent. It has seen a typical household bill exceed £100 a month.

"But now 43 days before a general election, you have decided to do something. You have decided to line up a few councils to face the guillotine, to demonstrate the firm hand of Government. But this is not the firm hand of Government. This is the slaughter of the innocents."

The high cost of council tax has become an important pre-election issue. The Tories have promised pensioners a rebate of up to £500, while Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, responded with a one-off £200 payment for all pensioners to help with bills.

The Liberal Democrats propose replacing council tax with a local income tax, saying it is a fairer way of spreading the burden.

Average Band D council taxes will be £1,162 in London, £1,234 in shire areas and £1,190 in metropolitan areas, according to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

In England, the average bill per dwelling will be £1,009 in 2005-6, up from £967 the previous year. In London, that figure will be £1,078, in the shires £1,048 and in metropolitan areas £840. Today’s figures only apply to England.

Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat local government spokesman, said: "Council tax has become an unbearable burden for millions of families, with average bills now a staggering £1,009.

"This is the tip of the iceberg. Labour and Tory plans for revaluation will see bills rocket again after the election, with homes moved into higher tax bands, meaning hundreds of pounds extra.

"Instead of struggling to pay a £1,000 Council Tax bill, under Liberal Democrat proposals of Local Income Tax the average family would be £450 a year better off."

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