COUNCIL tax in Pendle could increase by nearly three per cent.

Proposals to increase Pendle Council's share of the council tax by 2.99 per cent are set to be considered by councillors.

The council said it needs to make further ongoing cuts of £511,000 in addition to the savings of £610,000 already made in next year's budget.

Further cuts of around £1.9m also have to be made by 2020/21.

Councillor Tony Greaves, deputy leader of Pendle Council, who oversees the council’s finances, said its position is 'getting desperate'.

He said: “The government is again reducing our grants and district councils, like ours, are among the worst hit.

“We’ve been looking at different ways to cut our spending and raise our income, and so far we’ve done so with very little impact on services.

“But we’re now very close to being forced to stop doing some important things.

“The position is getting desperate but we’ll continue to do our best for everyone in Pendle.”

Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, leader of Pendle Council, said: “We’ll continue to do all we can to protect investment in the services which matter most to our residents and businesses.

“At our executive meeting we’ll have a look at the options being put forward by management team.

“I stress they are just management team’s proposals at this stage and no decisions have been taken.

“The budget will be set by councillors so we’re not obliged to accept any of the proposals.”

Pendle's executive councillors will discuss the authority's current financial position at a special budget meeting on Wednesday (February 7).

They will again be reminded of the seriousness of the council’s forecast financial position and the difficult decisions which have got to be made.

At the meeting councillors will receive more detail about the financial forecasts and options from the council's management team.

The full budget report is available from www.pendle.gov.uk/council

The council’s budget and council tax will be formally agreed at a council meeting on Thursday, February 22 this year.