COUNCIL tax bills in Pendle look set to rise by around 7.8 per cent this year based on figures put forward by the county and local councils.

Last night Pendle councillors agreed the borough's share of the overall bill will go up by 4.5 per cent.

Added to that will be the county's portion of the bill which amounts to 83 per cent of the total.

Lancashire's council tax bill is expected to rise by 8.5 per cent and the police authority's by 8 per cent. It will mean people who are in Band A properties, almost two-thirds of householders, will see their bills go up by £45 to £628.

A package of measures to clean up Pendle's streets, tackle town centre crime and modernise the way the council is run are included in this year's £10.8 million council budget.

A Pendle Pride initiative to cut the amount of litter and provide cleaner streets gets £35,000, town centre safety officers who will help cut crime will cost £25,000, and £25,000 is set aside to pay for modernising local government in the borough to bring it in line with central government expectations. To help pay for these measures, the council will cut its contribution to Mid Pennine Arts Association by £7,040 to £10,000, bus station and cemetery charges will rise ten per cent and allotment holders have been warned their rents will double from April 2000.

In a letter to councillors, Nick Hunt, director of Mid Pennine, pointed out the group provides full-time work for three local people and brought investment into the borough. Almost 150 letters objecting to the funding cut were sent to the council.

Alternative budgets put forward by opposition Labour and Conservative groups were rejected by the ruling Liberals. Labour proposed £32,200 be set aside to create an environmental task force while both opposition groups favoured a CCTV security camera scheme rather than town centre safety officers.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.