AN £11 million pound budget has been given the nod at Wychavon District Council - which includes an investigation over using brine water to create edible salt.

The Tory-run authority has approved its spending plans for 2017/18, despite criticism from the opposition Lib Dems over the Yew Tree Hill controversy.

It includes:

- A new household rubbish collection service for batteries, toasters and kettles, which will be taken away for recycling

- Grants to small businesses in a bid to find employment for 40 new apprentices within two years

- A two per cent council tax rise, adding £2.35 a year to typical band D bills

- A programme entitling some householders to replacement boilers, heating controls and insulation.

- Work with Droitwich Brine Heritage Group to investigate the feasibility of using brine water to create edible salt

- A £230,000 fund to improve 'social mobility and life chances', focusing on deprived council wards like Droitwich West

The life chances fund comes after a national investigation named parts of Wychavon among the top three worst areas of Britain for social mobility.

The money will last until 2020 and be spent on sporting activities, lifestyle advice, work in schools and 'skills development' for those out of work.

Conservative Councillor Linda Linda Robinson, the leader, said: "We were all delighted that Wychavon was recently named third best place to live in the UK.

"But we've been shocked to learn that some parts of Wychavon are rated as the third worst area in England in the Social Mobility Index.

"The index identifies the differences between where children grow up and the chances they have of doing well at school, finding a good job and having a decent standard of living.

"Reducing pockets of deprivation and improving social mobility is one of my big aspirations."

The council's administration has also promised to start work on 'direct involvement' with new social housing, the first time it has done so since the whole stock was sold in the 1990s.

But Lib Dem Councillor Charles Tucker has hit out at the budget, saying two many important priorities are "missing".

He has accused the planning department of suffering from "a lack of capacity" and not enough expertise - pointing to the controversial legal spat with Persimmon Homes at Yew Tree Hill, Droitwich, an emerging 500-home estate.

The Worcester News revealed three weeks ago how the developer started to build on the site without upgrading the roads to cope with congestion, such as Pulley Lane and the A38, despite it being a strict planning condition.

The High Court has now ordered that the road improvements must be done.

"The budget needed to address these matters, but it did not do so," said Cllr Tucker.

"The money foregone by limiting ourselves to a two per cent council tax increase could have funded the extra capacity we need in the planning department."

He said the council has been guilty of "poor handling" over it.