The talk of rebanding our homes to bleed us of more council tax has reared its ugly head again.

It will be based on how nice an area we live in, what sort of view or outlook we have, do we have somewhere to park the car, do we have a dog kennel in the back garden etc.

How pleased I was for Olympics minister Tessa Jowell when I read that a large family of travellers had set up on land they own, right on her doorstep.

She should be pleased, as the value of her property will drop and she could be in a lower band for council tax.

Perhaps we should all have a travellers' settlement close by. Then we could all pay less.

If these people are God-fearing, law-abiding as they claim, then what's the problem? They want their children to go to school to get an education, so make them pay council tax like us.

MICHAEL CLARKE Lewell Avenue Old Marston Oxford