A pledge has been made to invest more money in Witham this year.

The town council made the agreement as it announced a four per cent rise in its share of the council tax from April.

During last night's town council meeting, Witham councillors agreed to the increase their council tax precept, providing £284,000, which brings their total budget up to £370,000.

This means that for a two-person household in council tax Band D, the increase will be less than 1.5 pence per person per week, the meeting heard.

Council leader Paul Heath said: "We want to ensure that we set a precept that allows us to take our manifesto forward.

"Over the last four years, we have increased our precept by 17.4 per cent, within 0.6 per cent of the rate of inflation.

"The fact is that I would like to think we have delivered on what promised. We are not as far along as we had hoped to be. There is a long way to go, but I feel that we have provided good value for money."

The final council tax bills will be announced once Braintree Council and Essex County Council confirm their figures

Published Tuesday, January 14, 2003

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