The average council tax bill in Worcester is set to rise by almost £100 this year.

Worcester City Council backed a £6 rise in its share of the bill for the average band D household at a meeting in the Guildhall on Tuesday (February 21) pushing the total increase for the next 12 months to just under £95.

Worcestershire County Council approved its budget plans at a meeting in County Hall last week with its share, which is the biggest and pays for education, social care and transport, rising to £1,465.78 for band D households – an increase of £69 on last year.

The cost of policing is also set to rise with the average household asked to pay an extra £15 in the next year with the region’s fire service requesting an extra £5 from residents to cover its costs.

Council tax bills are split between the city and county councils, as well as parishes for residents living in Warndon and St Peter’s, as well as West Mercia Police and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

The total bill for band D households in Worcester will be £2,031.57 for the next 12 months with £1,465.78 going to Worcestershire County Council, £206.89 going to Worcester City Council, £94.40 going to Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and £264.50 going to West Mercia Police.

The monthly council tax costs for residents will be just under £170 with band D households paying an extra £95 more than they did last year.

Worcestershire County Council set its £400.8m budget on February 16 including a 4.94 per cent increase in its share of council tax with two per cent ring-fenced for adult social care.

Despite the proposed rise in council tax from April, the county council revealed it would still be facing a £68m hole in the next 12 months and would only balance its budget by making cuts and through government support.

Council bosses said £22m would have to be cut – or ‘saved’ – from next year’s budget and a further £45m would have to be slashed from the budget in the following three years.