COUNCIL tax payers in two South Durham districts are facing hefty rises after rates were set yesterday.

Wear Valley's tax rates will be the seventh highest of any district authority in the country, even though this year's increase has been pegged back to nine per cent.

Teesdale District Council has increased tax by 11.6 per cent in a desperate bid to prop up an ailing training centre.

Cuts of £450,000 in Wear Valley District Council's £10m budget were agreed yesterday, and a report from council officers predicted even grimmer prospects next year.

Savings are being made at Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex and in the council's arts budget. Street entertainment and artists in schools programmes, other arts support projects and Bishop Auckland's Summer Music Festival will either be slimmed down or cancelled.

A small number of jobs will be lost and some posts will be downgraded. And there is little cash to tackle vital issues such as social exclusion and improving council services.

Council house rents are to rise by £1.31 a week, car parking charges will rise and new fees for exclusive grave space and collecting bulky waste will be introduced.

Council leader Olive Brown said: "We are the most deprived rural district in the country and until we get some help from somewhere we will face even more difficult times."

Meanwhile, Teesdale councillors heard how Teesdale Training Centre had struggled in the past year to attract trainees to take courses. A deficit of £78,000 had built up over four years.

Director of finance Sian Hansom said much of the deficit would be made up next year, but it would mean a big council tax increase.

Councillor John Armstrong said: "I loathe tax increases, but the centre is so important for Teesdale's young and those who want training. Without this deficit we would have a very low increase, and one of the lowest in England."

The rise means council tax on a band D property in Barnard Castle will be £1,065 next year.

l Chilton Parish Council plans to raise its precept by 41 per cent this year, from £104,000 to nearly £147,000.

Parish council clerk Paul Gray said most of the increase would be spent on repairs to footpaths in Chilton cemetery