DAVID Cameron has made it clear that he intends to recognise marriage in the UK's tax system before the next General Election.

The Prime Minister has come under criticism from right- wingers in his party for not acting thus far to honour a Conservative manifesto commitment.

However, as he campaigned ahead of next week's local elections in England, Mr Cameron was asked by an audience in Carlisle if he stuck by his plans to recognise marriage in the tax system.

He replied: "Yes I do. We set them out at the last election in the Conservative manifesto. The Coalition agreement specifically said that while the Liberal Democrats don't agree with them, they would abstain if we promoted them, and that's exactly what we'll do before the end of this Parliament."

With just days to go before polling day south of the Border, Mr Cameron put council tax at the heart of the Tory appeal to voters, but declined to say how he expected his party to do in the May 2 poll.

Voters go to the ballot box in 27 county councils and seven unitary authorities in England, as well as two mayoral elections.

In all, almost 2400 council seats are up for grabs, most of them last contested in 2009 when the Tories made large gains against a deeply unpopular Labour Party led by Gordon Brown.

Reports have suggested that the Tories are braced for the loss of as many as 500 seats, though Labour's campaign co-ordinator, Tom Watson, has said he expects his party to pick up no more than 200 or 250.

The PM acknowledged that the elections would be "difficult", as they come in the middle of the parliamentary term, when governments are often trailing in the popularity stakes.