COUNCIL tax bills for city residents are set to rise by an average of almost £55 next year.

Worcester City Council agreed to increase its share of council tax by an extra £5 at a meeting on Tuesday (February 23) with members of the Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority backing plans to up its precept by an extra £1.69 from April.

The increases in city council and fire service precepts go alongside agreed rises by Worcestershire County Council and West Mercia Police in its shares of council tax.

With all precepts now agreed, the average band D household in Worcester will be expected to pay around £1,867 a year – an increase of just under £55.

Residents in Warndon parish will be asked to pay an extra £27.83 a year whilst taxpayers in St Peters parish will see an extra £18.16 added to their bills.

Worcester City Council’s latest budget includes £16.8 million to regenerate the city centre’s Angel Place and the surrounding area, £1.9 million to demolish Sansome Walk Swimming Pool for housing and £1.3 million to continue the work to transform the city’s railway arches into a cultural hub.

A two-and-a-half-per-cent rise in Worcestershire County Council’s share of council tax – equal to around £33 more for the year for the average household – and a £15 increase in West Mercia Police’s precept was agreed earlier this month.

One per cent of the county council’s increase will go directly to funding adult social care.

In its financial plans, the county council has predicted a £75 million gap in its subsequent two budgets between 2022 and 2024.

The authority’s Lib Dem councillors had called for council tax to be increased further by half a per cent to provide more money for social care and the council’s Labour group called for the government to fund the council tax increase in Worcestershire but both pleas were rejected.

West Mercia Police’s annual precept will be £240.20 a year for the average band D household - a rise of 6.66 per cent.

Almost nine million pounds will go towards recruiting an extra 91 police officers, the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said.

Mr Campion said he had presented a “more for more” budget which meant the police precept for residents in Worcestershire would be higher but services would be better as a result.