ERIC Pickles has waded into the controversy over council tax increases - saying areas like Worcestershire should do a u-turn on plans for a rise.

Ahead of a crunch vote on Thursday, the Conservative Government minister has risked the wrath of county Tories by saying households should not be asked to foot higher charges.

Mr Pickles says the public should "not have to foot any more of the bill”.

On Thursday Worcestershire County Council is taking a vote on rising council tax 1.9 per cent from April, the largest amount possible without staging a public referendum.

The move would add around £20.54 to the average band D bill, with the Tory leadership planning to reject a cash sweetener from the Government worth one per cent to freeze it.

Mr Pickles, who is David Cameron’s local government minister, says councils around the UK have £21.4 billion in reserves - money stashed away for emergencies - which should be raided instead.

In the county council's case, it has a general reserve kitty of £13 million and earmarked reserves, money due to be spent in part on large-scale projects, of around £100 million.

Mr Pickles said he wanted all councils to freeze their rates, making a last ditch plea.

"Councils account for a quarter of public spending and every bit of the public sector must do its bit to pay off the deficit," he said.

"But there are more than enough sensible savings to be made before hard-working families should have to foot any more of the bill.

"Reserves have rocketed up in the past few years and councils could be making better use of assets to keep taxes down and protect frontline services, while at the same time doing more to stop the billions they are losing to fraud and collecting more council tax arrears."

The stance has been rejected by Councillor Adrian Hardman, the county council leader.

"The reason we are looking for an increase is to put an extra £4 million into dealing with the pressures in children's services," he said.

"Our general reserves of £13 million isn't a lot when you consider we spend £1 million a day (on services), and our earmarked reserves is falling about 10 per cent a year, it will be around £92 million next year."

He also pointed to three successive years of freezes in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before last year's 1.9 per cent rise.

As your Worcester News revealed yesterday, Cllr Hardman has admitted the rise is “controversial” and “difficult” and says the suggestion has led to much debate within the Tory group.

The opposition Labour group has also criticised it, but it remains to be seen whether the party votes against it on Thursday.

The overall funding settlement to the county council from central Government has been slashed £17 million for 2015/16, a 14 per cent drop.

Added pressure on services means it needs to save around £25 million a year between now and 2018.

The general reserves of £13 million is fairly low in comparison with many other upper tier shire authorities, with many boasting amounts double or even triple that sum.