Ministers say Brighton and Hove City Council has no justification for hiking council tax bills by five times the inflation rate.

An adviser to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said they viewed such rises with dismay.

But city councillors have hit back, claiming the Government was largely to blame by not handing over enough cash to fund vital services.

The authority approved a council tax rise of 16.4 per cent for 2003/04, while also making savings worth £6 million. The council's portion of the tax rose by 14.5 per cent.

The annual council tax for a band D property rose to £1,073.73 from £922.25 last year.

A Brighton resident wrote to both the council and the Government to complain.

Writing on behalf of Mr Prescott, assistant policy adviser Suzanne Gunasinghe said: "Ministers share your dismay at the levels at which some local authorities have set their council tax for 2003/04.

"They are extremely disappointed that they have done so in spite of receiving above-inflation increases in Government grant.

"The Government is giving local authorities an extra £3.8 billion in grant for 2003/04. This means that Brighton and Hove receives £183.3 million, an increase of 3.5 per cent.

"Against this background of sustained increases in grant it is very difficult to see any good justification for excessive council tax increases."

But Ian Long, the council's housing and city support director, said the Government had not provided enough money to fully cover the council's needs for rising wage costs, social services and waste disposal.

He added that, despite considering a 20 per cent hike, the final figure still represented the lowest council tax rise in Sussex.

Councillor Brian Oxley, leader of the council's Conservative group, blamed the Government for imposing extra pressures on council budgets, such as increased National Insurance and pension charges.

He said: "It's a bit rich for the Government to be attacking the council when it is the Government's own policies which have caused this.

"What the council received this year was the absolute minimum increase it needed to carry out the functions Brighton and Hove does. The city needed literally millions more."