The story below is running on the Press Association wires tonight:

Town hall pensions are costing every household in England and Wales £281 a year - the equivalent of a quarter of their council tax bill - Conservatives said today.

Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman highlighted official figures showing the Local Government Pension Scheme - which excludes teachers, firefighters and police - cost councils £5.4 billion in 2008/09.

The figure was almost GBP400 million up on the previous year's £5.009 billion - an increase of 8% - and was more than four times the £1.52 billion cost when Labour came to power in 1997/98.

Analysis by the Conservatives found the yearly cost is now equivalent to £281 for each council tax-paying household in England and Wales, compared to an average council tax bill of £1,175.

Ms Spelman said: "Town hall pensions are now costing every taxpaying household almost £300 a year - equivalent to a quarter of everyone's council tax bill going on pension costs, rather than emptying bins or cleaning streets.

"Local taxpayers simply cannot afford to foot an ever-growing bill. Under Labour, people are paying more and getting less."

Right, I'm no politician and my job means that I have to stay neutral - frankly I couldn't care less which party is running Leeds City Council; it's simply my job to support and work with whoever is in charge.

But - the story above is an example of where the Tories are well and truly shooting themselves in the foot.

The final sentence 'under Labour, people are paying more and getting less' says it all for me.

Ummm, H-E-L-L-O - Miss Spelman - did you check to see which party is running the town hall in Leeds before issuing your analysis to the media? Clearly not because the party in charge here is ... the Conservatives!

So tomorrow morning, when the Yorkshire Post calls asking for a comment on this I'll be defending the Tory council adminstration from ... itself!

That's crazy. Some people really need to engage their brains before sending out press releases.