LIVING in a picturesque and tranquil area of Dorset or Somerset carries a financial penalty that puts community life in rural areas at risk.

If readers of the Western Gazette have not heard, social policy research compiled by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that the cost of living in rural areas is 20 per cent higher than in urban areas.

The more remoter the area you live in, the higher the costs. If you are a single person, you need £14,400 to survive in an urban area, such as Yeovil, and this shoots up to £18,600 if it is a remote hamlet. In between the costs are £15,600 in a market town, such as Castle Cary or Blandford, and £17,900 in a village.

The single person living in a village must earn £8.89 an hour, which is 50 per cent above the minimum wage to make ends meet.

These salaries were based on the foundation's Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom.

Bearing in mind that many of the rural professions in villages, such as farming, pubs, postmasters, rural crafts, primary school teachers and district nurses are within this wage bracket and if these figures aren't somehow pulled back, the infrastructure that is the bedrock of a community cannot be sustained.

Councillors and prominent local Coalition figures, such David Laws, David Heath, and Oliver Letwin, would be well advised to take note.

Those who purchase properties from outside the area or second homes have to understand that their right to live in a pleasant area carries responsibility as well as the privilege that goes with it.

In this case "my right to do what I want, when I want" has ramifications for those trying to stay in the community where they were bought up.

If they seriously believe this is of no consequence and that no action should be taken to remedy this, then the rural idyll that they have bought into will be shattered because the means to provide it will have been taken away.

In a rural location, a car is a necessity and not a luxury when seeking employment. Transport services are very infrequent and bus services usually only run on a hourly basis between market towns, and there will be only one service daily going to and fro from the villages.

The foundation also concluded that rural communities faced higher energy bills. A lack of a mains gas supply means using dearer fuels and housing is less energy efficient.

Alice Barnard, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: "For many families in rural areas, it is a constant struggle to make ends meet, meaning they often have to spend 20 per cent more than their urban counterparts to match their standard of living.

"This is despite the average wage in the countryside being lower than the average wage of those who work in the small towns and cities.

"For families living in remote areas the difference is even greater. To earn enough a two-child family living in a hamlet needs to earn £72 a week more than the same family living in an urban area.

"The rising cost of living means that many rural families are forced to move to urban areas. Long-established community networks are broken up as families struggle to get a foot on a property ladder or move away to be closer to local amenities at no extra cost.

"We will continue to campaign for improved facilities such as transport links, post offices and skills."

"We will also strive towards a countryside where local families are not priced out by rising property prices, a lack of social housing and the financial inability to live and work in the area."

On a recent visit to the Czech Republic, I was struck by the efforts made to keep families together by converting attics into top-floor flats. This explains why some houses in their rural areas are quite large.

To those who have the power to change this, stop the endless "talking shop" committees and deliver some proposals that will make a difference.