FINANCE staff have been praised after a borough council kept to a minimum its share of the council tax increase.

Ribble Valley Council leader Howel Jones praised finance director Marshall Scott and his team for their good work after the authority kept its share of the increase in council tax to three and a half per cent without massive cutbacks.

But Lancashire County Council increases will see the tax rise by 12 per cent overall.

Coun Jones said the borough's increase had been kept to a minimum because of efficiency of collection and prompt payment by taxpayers.

He also called for an end to capping, by which authorities are told what they can spend by the government. The Ribble Valley had lost in the region of £200,000 in government grants over a three-year period as a result of not spending to its limits, he pointed out.

"We have received a reasonable settlement from the government, though still below where we were in 1995," he said.

The average £835.29 council tax bill faced by a Band D property in the Ribble Valley will include a £673.36 chunk for Lancashire County Council.

The council tax for Clitheroe households will be: Band A - £558.76, B -£651.87, C -£745.01, D - £838.13, E - £1,024.39, F - £1,210.63, G - £1,396.89, H - £1,676.26.

The council tax for surrounding villages will vary slightly, depending on their parish precepts.

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