A BOROUGH'S portion of council tax for the majority of homes will rise by £1.98 a year.

The annual bill for a Band A terraced house in Burnley will rise by 1.9 per cent £204.13 - seven and a half pence per week more.

It followed a five-hour meeting of the borough council where the ruling coalition accepted several Labour amendments to its spending plans.

Burnley borough's share of the council tax is only a small part of the total bill with other precepts added by Lancashire County Council, the police and the fire service.

The county council has agreed a 3.99 per cent increase to its precept, adding £35.82 to the annual bill of a Band A home.

The meeting on Wednesday night agreed with Labour to spend £45,000 on tackling rough sleeping, scrap a proposed £10,000 cut to the energy efficiency programme, add £32,000 to the parks maintenance budget, and spend an extra £41,000 on improving housing.

Labour group leader Cllr Mark Townsend said, “The coalition of chaos running Burnley Council lived up to its name last night when its flagship spending proposals were defeated and Labour’s alternative plan put in its place.

"I am delighted that Labour’s fully funded alternative to provide additional council tax support to low income residents was accepted."

Coalition finance boss Cllr Maggie Lishman said: "The meeting agreed 99 per cent of our proposal.

"This was a grown-up debate. It was a triumph for democracy. All the groups on the council contributed to the budget that was eventually agreed and it shows councillors are putting the good of Burnley’s community first”.