COUNCIL tax is set to rise in Worcester - with households warned to expect years of increases.

The deputy leader of Worcester City Council says they are likely to for the maximum hike of nearly three per cent next year.

Labour Councillor Joy Squires, second-in-command at the Guildhall, has laid the blame squarely at the feet of central Government cuts, saying they are facing huge challenges.

A rise of £5 per year at band D is the maximum allowed without staging a costly public referendum, which works out at around 2.9 per cent extra.

The reason why it would add only £5 to the typical band D charge because the city council controls just 11 per cent of the household bill, with the bulk being decided by Worcestershire County Council, the fire service and police.

But a new financial blueprint at the city council, drawn up for the Labour leadership, is assuming that its portion of the bill will rise by the maximum amount every year up to 2021.

Cllr Squires has pointed the finger at the previous Government's cash sweetener to local authorities prepared to freeze rates, calling it an "inducement" which has left many areas playing catch-up.

Before last year councils across Worcestershire used routinely used the tactic, meaning they got one-off cash rewards the equivalent of a two per cent rise for keeping bills down.

Cllr Squires said: "I think it's fair to say there's a strong expectation that the council tax increase will be maximised, to do otherwise, I think would be pretty foolhardy.

"I will put the blame on the Government - that inducement not to raise it, which they have now completely gone back on, left problems and we are still picking up the pieces."

She added: "I'm being completely open and transparent about it, I think we'll do exactly what's set out in the report."

The council's finances were debated in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday where Councillor Marc Bayliss, Conservative group leader, criticised the plans for "lacking clarity".

New council tax bills for the spring of 2017 onwards will be set next February when local authority budgets are voted on.

The Conservative leadership at Worcestershire County Council, which controls 74 per cent of the bill, will reveal its intentions in December - and whatever is decided there will have by far the greater impact.

Unless the Government revises the existing 'cap' County Hall could increase its portion of the bill four per cent as long as half goes into funding adult social care.