HOUSEHOLDS across Barrow are set to feel the pinch after councillors unanimously voted to raise council tax in the borough.

The decision to increase prices by 2.99 per cent from the beginning of the new financial year was approved by all members of the Executive Committee at their last meeting.

The changes will generate £128,000 per annum for the cash strapped council, which must shave another £500,000 from its budget this year to reduce their deficit to £38,000.

Dave Pidduck, Leader of Barrow Borough Council and chairman of the Executive Committee defended the move, saying it would help to fund vital services across the area.

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He said: "If we increase council tax there will be people who find this difficult so we will do our best to try and protect them as much as we can, but the increase will give us more than £100,000 extra and that money will be used to support the services we offer.

"A one percent increase will only give us around £40,000. We have to protect as much as we possibly can.

"We are making the changes that are absolutely necessary and sometimes we have to make very difficult decisions.

"We are looking over our shoulder for where the next cuts will come from."

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He said changes would also help the council implement an exemption scheme for care leavers, who would not be required to pay council tax until the age of 25.

Band D, which is seen as the UK average will see an increase of 13p per week, while those at the bottom end of the scale with a Band A property will see a rise of 9p per week.

The only three Band H properties in the borough will pay 26p extra per week.

The committee's deputy leader Brendan Sweeney also backed the changes.

He said: "We have seen enormous cutbacks and this is the first year we have not been in the top ten in the country.

"The council tax is really important, it's not a huge amount of money but it does make a difference- Northamptonshire council didn't have any council tax rises and they went bust.

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"This money helps us to do lots of things in Barrow which other councils don't do anymore- 80 per cent of other councils don't do weekly bin collections anymore, we support citizens advice, we offered Women's Community Matters grants to get off the ground.

"All these services need to run and we need money to do that."