According to leaked reports, council tax will soar under new government plans due to be announced this week. People living in higher-value homes are facing increases that will more than double their bills.

Pensioners and "hard working people" who have lived in their homes for a number of years are likely to be among the hardest hit by proposed council tax changes, shadow local government minister Caroline Spelman has said.

The plans are designed to ease the council tax burden on the less well-off - who will see bills fall if they live in homes worth less than £130,000 - while squeezing more out of householders who have arguably been enriched by the boom in property prices over the last few years.

Leaks from the report, the Balance Of Funding Review, suggest MPs want to add at least two more bands at the top end of the scale and another at the bottom.

In the first of those new higher bands, probably £310,000 to £440,000, the council tax would be liable to rise by about £1,000 on current bills averaging around £1,900.

In the highest band, those owning properties worth more than £620,000 could see their bills jump from about £2,300 to £6,200.

The scheme has been branded a "stealth tax" by Conservatives as soaring house prices have brought the average value of a home in England and Wales to way above the £170,000 mark that is being vaunted as the first level to cause higher council tax payments.