COUNCIL tax bills will rise by 3.4 per cent in the Ribble Valley.

The hike adds £5 a year to council taxes paid by those in average band D properties.

Ribble Valley Council leader Ken Hind said it would be only the second time in nine years that council tax in the borough would increase.

The council tax increase was approved by the borough's policy and finance committee.

Cllr Hind said: "We have absorbed just under three quarters of a million in additional costs caused by a decision made in 2015 by Lancashire County Council to end recycling payments, increases in staff wages and reduction in government funding .

"It means for a band D taxpayer of an average sized three bedroom home in the borough they will be paying £150, to the Ribble Valley Council just under an extra 10 pence a week.

"The council provides really good value for its services.

"We have achieved this without making any staff redundant, cutting services or without any changes to the refuse collection service."

Cllr Hind said that Ribble Valley will be the only council Lancashire not to charge for green waste collection.

He said the council will continue to maintain its four stream collection, including paper and card and the weekly collection.

In the future, he said the council will look to new ways to increase the amount they recycle in a community.

Cllr Hind added: ''Residents on our borders such as in Longridge will notice the difference between Ribble Valley Council and City of Preston where a resident living in a band D home in Preston will pay twice that of a resident in the Ribble Valley.

"In the case of Longridge the houses may be identical and only be a matter of 200 yards apart.

"Ribble Valley's council tax will continue to be the lowest in Lancashire and one of the lowest in the country. "

The rise comes after Lancashire County Council approved its budget for 2018-19.

It will see residents pay nearly three per cent more on their council tax as the county council makes savings and cuts of more than £11m.

As part of the budget, the full council agreed that council tax should be increased by 2.99 per cent, plus a three per cent increase specifically for adult social care.

Planned cuts include £1.25m from children and family wellbeing services, and cutting £1.026m from the budget for learning, disability and autism residential reviews.