Hackney Council was lifted out of the lowest-rated category of "poor" and reclassified as "weak" by the government's financial watchdog, the Audit Commission, in the latest official local authority performance league tables.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's home council of Hull is now the only local authority in Britain to be rated "poor".

Hackney's mayor, Jules Pipe, hailed the findings of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment as proof of significant improvements in the Labour-controlled council's services.

However Hackney Independent - previously the Hackney Independent Working Class Association - has slammed the Audit Commission "for not living in the real world",

"I challenge them to set foot outside their offices and show us where the improvements are" said spokesman, Peter Sutton.

"Try living on a council estate, attending a Hackney school or relying on Hackney social services before telling us how much things are getting better."