ANGRY residents fear a parish council will serve as nothing more than a "stealth tax".

Residents of Steeple View, Laindon, have repeatedly urged the council to ditch its plan to create a parish council and believe it will be money down the drain. Many are also worried the cash it costs to set up will be recouped in tax.

Wayne Merrell, 27, of Chenies Drive, said: "What's the point of a parish council? They don't seem to have any real powers at all.

"It wouldn't susprise me if it was just another crafty way to get more money and tax out of local residents.

"Steeple View just isn't big enough to warrant its own parish council."

Sue Newton, 44, of Redwood Drive, said: "I am furious this is continuously being raised on the agenda at community forum meetings. Everybody believes it is a waste of time."

Bill Skipp, 80, of Dunton Road, said: "I'm totally opposed to it. We already pay tax for elected councillors to do the jobs parish councillors would do.

"Why should we pay twice for the same services?"

Residents are also worried only a few people have responded to the council's leaflets informing the public of the proposals.

Ricky Gotch, 61, of Redwood Drive, said: "People who are not interested in having a parish council have not returned the leaflets, but have thrown them in the bin.

"The majority of people who have attended forum meetings have been against a parish council."

Malcolm Buckley, leader of Basildon Council, said parish councils were a "key way" of engaging local people.

He said: "In the end, it will be down to whether a significant number of people want a parish council or not."