A SHOCK four per cent council tax rise is on the cards across Worcestershire - lumbering thousands of householders with inflation-busting hikes.

Your Worcester News can reveal how County Hall's Conservative leadership wants to increase bills by 3.9 per cent from April - despite inflation being flat.  

It would see people in the biggest properties forking out at least an extra £85 a year, while average band D homes will rise by more than £42.

Last month Chancellor George Osborne ripped up a previous two per cent 'cap' on council tax bills for authorities dealing with adult social care.

It means top-tier ones, including Worcestershire County Council, now have a new limit of four per cent without having to call a public referendum first.

A previous suggestion to increase it 1.9 per cent has therefore been abandoned in favour of a much heftier rise.

If voted through in February, it will mean since 2014 Worcestershire County Council will have upped its bill by nearly eight per cent.

Councillor Peter McDonald, who leads the opposition Labour group, has already said he will vote against it.

He said: "I'm shocked by this - what people have got to understand is that it means council tax will have gone up eight per cent over three years.

"That's a tremendous increase. I can't think of any businesses or any other organisations paying their workers this much more.

"I don't know how they think people can keep on finding this extra money, all it will do is increase hardship.

"Even a two per cent rise would be hard to stomach, but this is something else entirely."

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: "It's unacceptable to be hiking council tax by this much at a time when family budgets are squeezed.

"They must work harder to deliver value for the money that hard-pressed taxpayers' already hand over."

The proposed rise comes despite inflation being in negative territory for two months in a row.

On last month the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney said "inflation rates close to zero are likely to endure much beyond the end of the year".

A rise of 3.94 per cent, calculated to come in just under the four per cent threshold without triggering a referendum, is worth around £9 million to the council's coffers - a significant boost to its spending power.

Bosses insist the move is in response to huge demographic pressures which means around £25 million needs to be saved every year between now and 2020.

The leadership has also pointed to giving taxpayers three years' worth of freezes in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before the rates started to creep up.

It spends £127 million on adult social care and health now, 38 per cent of the council's total budget, and those demands are only going one way.

The tax rise proposal will be discussed by the Conservative cabinet next Thursday before going out for public consultation ahead of a February vote.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the leader, said: "The council is spending £1m every day to deliver excellent services to its residents and ensure we have a thriving, vibrant local economy.

"However we also need to care for those who need it.

"This proposed increase amounts to less than £1 per week for most households.

"It will provide essential support to Worcestershire's most vulnerable people.

"We very carefully consider any increases, but recognise that with more children coming into care and more elderly and frail people living in the county than ever before, this extra funding is essential."

This afternoon he also said the 3.94 per cent figure was subject to some "wriggle room" if this month's Government grant settlement comes in better than expected, although it appears unlikely.

He has also challenged Labour on its stance, saying the cash from the proposed rise would help those increasing adult and children's care pressures.

"We did give the public three years of freezes, and we're reflecting what they told us are the priorities," he said.

"If Labour are against investing in adult and children's social care that's up to them."

County Hall controls 72 per cent of the council tax bill, meaning the end rates will be influenced by what the district councils, fire and police services decide for their small portions.

But those decisions will have a much less significant impact, with Worcester City Council looking to add around £2.31 a year to it by upping its portion by 1.9 per cent, for example.