HOUSEHOLDERS in Blackburn and Darwen will pay one of the lowest council tax rises - if not the lowest - in Lancashire, Labour councillors have claimed.

Finance chiefs have proposed a 4.8 per cent rise, exactly in line with the national average the Government is expecting when each council tots up its figures.

Elsewhere in East Lancashire, the county council has levied an 8.5 per cent increase and district councils still have to decide what they will charge on top of that.

In Labour-controlled Blackburn and Darwen, almost two thirds of homes are in council tax Band A, which will rise from £580.27 to £608.95.

Blackburn with Darwen Council gets 52 per cent of its budget from government grants, 25 per cent from business rates which are set by the Government, and 23 per cent from the council tax. No final figure will be reached until a survey of people who took part in a MORI survey on council services in 1998 are consulted once more.

There is also likely to be a wider consultation exercise.

Councillor Gail Barton, deputy leader of the council and finance chairman, said: "Throughout the budget process our aim has been to protect key services and introduce essential service developments.

"It is still less than a year since we became a new unitary council and we want to be in a position to deal with any uncertainties."

Another part of the budget will bring in a three per cent rise in council home rents.

Coun Mohammed Khan, housing chairman, said: "Council house rents in Blackburn with Darwen remain highly competitive and provide value for money for quality homes."

The proposed budget and council tax levels will be finalised, after consultation, at a meeting of Blackburn with Darwen Council on March 8.

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