Residents of Brighton and Hove are facing a rise in the cost of living estimated at more than four times the rate of inflation.

From next month, the average householder will pay up to £130 extra a year in council tax, water rates and fuel bills.

Politicians have condemned the rises and called for the Government to stop the cost of living spiralling out of control in the South while the economy deflates in the North.

Council tax bills across Sussex are to rise by an average of six per cent from April 1. The biggest rise will be in Brighton and Hove, where Band D taxpayers will pay an extra £88.11 a year.

Householders in every district in Sussex will see rises of more than £60 on their annual bills. The biggest rise outside Brighton and Hove will be in Lewes, where bills will go up by £71.08.

Lewes MP Norman Baker said: "This reflects the failure of the Government's regional policy. Prices in the South are rising while the North is depopulating.

"The local economy is overheating because there is no proper regional strategy. The Government has failed to produce any incentives to get people to relocate to the North."

The council tax bills include a charge for policing which exceeds £100 for the first time.

Meanwhile, Southern Water, which made a £63 million net profit last year, has increased its average bill from £251.71 last year to £258.89.

South East Water, which supplies mid Sussex, is not planning to increase its rates this year but has announced rises of an average of 4.9 per cent each year for the next five years, meaning bills will be 60p a week more expensive by 2010.

EDF Energy, which made group operating profits of almost £1 million a day in 2002, increased payments on gas by 4.6 per cent and electricity by 6.7 per cent on March 1.

This means the average gas bill will rise by £14 a year and electricity by £21. The rise is even bigger for customers of British Gas, which hiked its prices in January by 39p a week. The company has already increased prices by 15.4 per cent since January 2000.

The rate of inflation stands at 1.4 per cent, according to the Government's new consumer prices index. Senior citizens have been given an extra 2.7 per cent in state pensions.

The gas and electricity watchdog Energywatch has hit out at the rises in fuel bills and called on consumers to shop around for alternative suppliers.

EDF Energy is one of the largest energy companies in the UK, supplying gas and electricity to more than five million customers - ten per cent of the market - under the brand names London Energy, Seeboard Energy and SWEB Energy.

An EDF Energy spokesman said the company had set up a trust to help people in severe difficulties pay their bills.

The National Consumer Council estimates one in five households cannot pay their water bills.

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett has announced a review of how lower income households are helped with their water bills, which are predicted to rise by 31 per cent from April 2005.