A LOCAL authority struggling to balance its books after Government intervention expects to increase its council tax by less than £4 next year.

Hambleton District Council plans to stick to the five per cent rise built into its new financial strategy to avoid being capped for the second year in a row.

The authority was capped earlier this year for going over the Government's guidelines for council tax increases, even though the planned £12 rise would still have made it one of the lowest council tax rates in the country.

The capping meant the council had to make drastic cuts budget cuts and re-draft its ten-year strategy.

News of next year's increase followed the announcement of Government grant settlements for all local authorities next year.

Hambleton's grant will rise by 3.61 per cent to £5.322m, £186,000 up on this year.

Council leader Arthur Barker said that, while the grant was slightly higher than predicted, it was less than the shire district average of 4.8 per cent and would still require savings to balance the budget.

"Being capped this year has forced us into making widespread budgetary cuts. We have had to remove some planned schemes and reduce others," he said.

"This settlement from the Government is slightly higher than we predicted, but the damage was done through capping and those savings must still be made.

"We will be keeping to a council tax rise of no more than five per cent - or £3.72 a year for an average Band D property."