Tax rises in April will mean that many leisure businesses will see the rateable value of their properties increase by up to 700 per cent.

The rate hike - the result of the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) revaluation of non-domestic and business properties that takes place every five years - will mean that certain businesses will have to pay double.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the biggest victims will include county cricket grounds, zoos and safari parks, historic buildings, heritage railways and pubs and restaurants.

The report said that Headingley cricket ground’s rateable value will rise by 166 per cent, and Lord’s rateable value will double. Longleat Safari Park will face a 142 per cent rise.

The VOA claims that revaluation “maintains fairness in the rating system, by ensuring that the rates that each business pays reflect changes in the relative rental value of property over time” and that evaluation does not raise extra revenue from business rates, it “merely redistributes the overall national rates bill”.

The government is introducing a transitional relief system to limit the amount businesses must pay in 2010 to 12.5 per cent. Bills will then rise by 17.5 per cent in 2011, then 20 or 25 per cent each year for the next three years.

Photograph: Headingley's rateable value will increase 166 per cent