COUNCIL tax payers face an average 9.17 per cent rise this year despite Redditch councillors' arguments that it should be increased by no more than the rate of inflation.

The council has upped its rate by 7.44 per cent which, along with increases of 9.96 per cent by Worcestershire County Council and six per cent by West Mercia Police Authority, accounts for the rise.

The latest announcement means the average band D bill will increase by £10.68 per year for a band D property on top of £60.95 extra for the county and £4.44 for the police.

Redditch Council's budget requirement is £9.2 million, a 5.75 per cent increase on the 2000/2001 figure of £8.7 million.

Borough Director Chris Smith suggested at a policy and resources committee meeting on Monday the move was due to disappointing levels of Government support.

He said: "We are not getting the lion's share of Government settlement in any way and are having to make up the difference in external support."

Councillor Nigel Hicks said: "What we are looking to do is to keep services in the safe state they are in.

"Most people would support me in saying services in Redditch are not the best and we must give them everything they expect us to provide for them and welcome the budget put forward by the Labour group simply because it should be able to provide us with some improvement."

But councillor Gavin Smithers said: "We should ask ourselves what our responsibility is to the rate payers in this town. People can't afford to pay more. It is our responsibility to keep these levels down and restrict any increase in our tax to the level of inflation."

And taxpayers in the Feckenham area will pay an extra £10.70 per year to cover the parish council's expenditure, 2.8 per cent less than last year.