Council rent books could soon be a thing of the past in Oxford.

The city council, which has about 10,000 tenants, is planning to introduce plastic payment cards for its rent.

The plastic "smart cards", which can also be used for paying council tax bills, could be introduced as early as April.

They would replace payment books, which are currently used for more than 170,000 transactions at Oxford post offices every year.

Cllr Sarah Margetts, chairman of the council's housing committee, said: "We want to improve the accuracy of rent records.

"We will be explaining the system carefully to tenants and listening to their suggestions for making it user-friendly."

Tenants and council taxpayers currently pay direct to the council by cheque, debit card or Direct Debit, or at post offices using payment books. Girobank, which handles cash paid in at post offices, decided to scrap its payment book service by March 2000 and install electronic card readers instead.

Tenants and taxpayers will be issued with a personalised card, similar to a credit card, with a magnetic strip and an account number. To make a payment, they will hand over the card at the post office counter, along with the cash, and receive a receipt.

The credit cards will be cheaper to produce than payment books and cut down on staff costs.

The council's housing committee is due to discuss the proposals tomorrow. Officers are proposing the payment cards are introduced on April 1.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.