SENIOR fire officers have warned that a small rise in this year's council tax precept could mean bigger increases in years to come.

The North Yorkshire brigade has suggested a rise of 4.9 per cent for the next financial year - just within the Government limit of five per cent. This would bring the bill for a Band D property to £53, an increase of just £2.46 on last year's figure.

Last year, an increase of 30 per cent was initially proposed, but members eventually opted for a more modest 9.7 per cent rise after public consultation.

Now senior officers have warned that growing pressure on their budget could mean more substantial increases over the next three years unless savings are made.

In a report to the fire authority, chief fire officer Eric Clark said: "On current figures, whilst the authority can achieve a council tax increase well within ministerial boundaries, it does so effectively at the expense of the subsequent year.

"A reasonable balance has to be struck between risk, service delivery plans and the burden those plans place directly on council tax payers and indirectly through redistributed business rate incomes and revenue support grant.

"The authority continues to face wider demands as regards consultation, audit and inspection, performance plans, information technology and systems, assessment and control of corporate risk."

The authority is now planning to carry out major reviews of key areas to see if further savings can be made.

Mr Clark said: "Until the reviews have been completed, it is not possible to say with any certainty to what extent the delivery of the corporate vision and objectives may be compromised given the extent and depth of review that will be necessary to deliver £2m of savings over three years.

"The impact on future years depends on the extent to which any reductions are recurring or simply deferrals of expenditure into future years.

"The position is already looking difficult for 2006/2007 and future years and the authority quite properly needs to look beyond 2005/2006 and consider the possibility of making any necessary provision for those years where it can."

The budget will be debated at a fire authority meeting in Easingwold on Monday.