John Prescott's local council in Hull has been rated the worst in England by the Audit Commission.

But the deputy prime minister, who is responsible for local government, will welcome the fact that a record number of councils received "good" and "excellent" ratings by the spending watchdog.

Of England's 150 single tier and county councils two thirds received the top rankings, up from just over half two years ago.

In total 16 councils were in the lower categories of "poor" and "weak", down from 35 in 2002.