WORCESTER city councillors have voted through £10.5 million budget plans – despite opposition from the Conservative group who wanted to freeze council tax.

The budget for 2017/18 was agreed at a full council meeting on Tuesday night, following weeks of deliberation.

It includes a council tax rise of £5 a year for residents of band D properties, equivalent to about 2.9 per cent extra – the maximum increase allowed without staging a public referendum.

Car parking prices will be frozen and funeral charges for children under 17 will be scrapped, meaning grief-stricken families won't have to pay after suffering a loss.

And £80,000 will be used to continue the discretionary welfare assistance scheme, which provides help to those facing difficult circumstances or an emergency.

The budget is set against a backdrop of £2.2 million in savings which must be made over the next three years – a situation which means 28 posts will face the axe by 2019.

Labour's Cllr Adrian Gregson, the council leader, said: "This is a budget that is about meeting the funding shortfall left by Government cuts and also about investing for the good of Worcester.

"We will be challenging and transforming the way we deliver services for residents.

“I am pleased that, despite the financial challenges we face, we have still found ways to help and support people who are very vulnerable or facing tragedy.

"Importantly, we will also be working with partners – including the public – to demonstrate that our city is an attractive place to invest in, to visit and to live."

But Cllr Marc Bayliss, who leads the opposition Tory group, slammed the budget as "illegitimate".

"We opposed the budget last night," he said. "The budget was forced through with Labour and Green support. It failed to deal with the real issues of Worcester.

"We tried to freeze council tax – there is no real justification for putting council tax up in the city this year but Labour and the Greens forced that through."

The Conservatives attempted to push through eight amendments to the budget, but seven of the ideas were refused.

However it was agreed £2.3 million in funding would be spent on delivering the council's ambitious City Plan – a cross-party project which aims to "create a successful, vibrant and sustainable Worcester."

Around half of the plan funding will come from the council's £2.181 million grant from the Government's new homes bonus scheme.

The rest – £1.3million – will come from the council's transformation and efficiency fund.

Also contributing to achieving the city plan will be the new small projects development fund, a research and development scheme set up to assess councillors’ money-making ideas.

The fund came under fire from councillors earlier this month, with some criticising it for a lack of detail.

Council Tax Increases

The increase in the city council's council tax precept for each property band is:

• Band A - £3.33

• Band B - £3.89

• Band C - £4.44

• Band D - £5

• Band E - £6.11

• Band F - £7.22

• Band G - £8.33

• Band H - £10