TORIES today urged: Put workers before shirkers in the queue for council houses.

People who do not work - or never intend to work - should not be given preference, the party said.

The call came in a blast against the points system for allocating homes in Kirklees.

Tories said there should be changes, so the first choice was not given to the unemployed - or to single parents, large families and refugees.

Clr Christine Smith, the party's housing spokesman on Kirklees Council, said: "How can it be fair when, for example, a couple who both live with their own parents, who both make the effort to work, but earn a modest living, can't get a council house in the area they come from and - if they are offered anything at all - it is always miles away?

"Compare these to a couple, with a large number of children, who have never worked and who never intend to work because of the benefits they receive," she added.

"This couple and their family will race to the top of the waiting list and get exactly what they want, where they want it - and the taxpayer pays their rent for them."

Tories said the problem was worse in rural areas. Clr Smith said: "The couple who simply want to make a start in life are discriminated against, treated unfairly and only get points for registering.

"They can wait years without being offered anything suitable for their modest requirements.

"The points system is ridiculous. It should put local people first. It will be revised to reflect this if the Conservatives take control of the council in the coming elections."

Her remarks sparked a storm today.

Green councillor Andrew Cooper, council Cabinet member responsible for housing, accused her of not knowing the facts.

He said: "The Conservative right- to-buy legislation has meant there are fewer and fewer council houses to offer.

"We allocate on the basis of need. We do not treat people unfairly."

He accused his Tory opponent of failing to grasp the facts.

"Prejudice is not knowledge," added Clr Cooper.

"She has never been to a meeting of the Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing south management board, of which she is a member.

"If she had, she would know the answers she is seeking."