Southampton residents are to be hit with a council tax rise of more than double inflation in April, the Daily Echo can reveal.

The council is due to agree a 6.3 per cent increase to bills in a bid to funding essential services for the city's elderly and vulnerable residents.

Leader June Bridle pleaded for people to understand why their bills had to go up by an average of 82p a week.

She said: "We have to put extra money into social services. We don't want to tax people more but I make no apology for having to do it. I sincerely hope people can understand that we simply have to fund this priority service."

An extra £1.5 million is being drafted into social services to help meet huge demands on the budget.

The twice-inflation hike is higher than this year's county council bill - last week Hampshire finance bosses agreed to raise charges by 5.9 per cent - but is less than the 6.7 per cent inflicted by city bosses last year.

On average, local authorities are expected this year to impose a seven per cent increase.

But the extra cash raised by the tax hike in Southampton was also intended to allow city leaders to avoid drastic slashes in services.

A report by finance chief Terry O'Rourke warns that setting a lower council tax rise would have a "significant adverse effect on services". "This should be avoided where possible," he said.

But some cuts in services have already been published. Leisure facilities had to be cut back to find £700,000 worth of savings, which will be found through selling off the ski centre and Fountain's cafe, plus reducing the hours of the award-winning city art gallery.

Environmental services have also had to slash back the budget for replacing lights on city streets - leaving some neighbourhoods in darkness, residents have complained.

The average band countrywide is band D but most households in Southampton fall in bands A and B. In A the average bill will rise by 55p from April, in B residents will have to pay an extra 64p.

The budget is due to be agreed on February 23.

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