EAST Lancashire councils have been warned not to impose large council tax rises on residents next year -- or they could be capped.

Minister for Local Government, Nick Raynsford, said local authorities should give tax payers value for money while keeping increases in check.

He added: "There's no justification for unreasonable council tax increases next year.

"We have given generous grant increases to all local authorities. This year was the first time ever that every local authority in England got an above inflation grant increase.

"We expect councils to be prudent and to look at their budgets carefully and ensure that they're giving value for money to their residents.

"And we expect them next year to set much lower council tax increases than they have in the current year."

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also warned councils they face being 'capped' to prevent any large increases.

This year council tax bills in Blackburn and Darwen rose by 9.5 per cent, despite the council receiving an extra £12million in Government money. Homes in the Ribble Valley also paid 9.5 per cent more this year.

In Hyndburn and Burnley, bills grew by 9.2 per cent, Pendle people saw their bills rise by 9.7 per cent, while in Rossendale, which was placed at the bottom of a national league table of councils, residents were asked to pay 11.1 per cent more.

Donna Hall, executive director of corporate resources, said: "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is as keen to keep levels of council tax down as the Government is. We increased council tax by 8.9 per cent last year. The national average increase in council tax was over 12 per cent."

Nick Aves, director of finance at Burnley Council, said: "Burnley Borough Council will do all it can to ensure that the rise in that part of the council tax that it directly controls will be kept at reasonable levels.

"The average annual increase in the Burnley element of the council tax in recent years has been five per cent and this was the increase applied for the current year."

He added: "The overall amount that council tax payers must pay includes the requirements of the county council and the Police Authority. The Burnley element represents only around 16 per cent of the total."