Did you hear the one about the never-ending mortgage? Well, a number of local authorities have, apparently. Jealous of the high popularity rating of our venerable banks and building societies, the local authorities decided to best their rivals by continuing to charge their mortgage holders for years after the customers had fully paid off the price of their properties.

Now I know local authorities are always stuck for cash, but I'm not too sure this strategy is going to do much to improve their image with their local electorate.