COUNCIL tax will rise nearly four per cent across Worcestershire from April after a new £322 million budget was voted through at County Hall today.

The county council's Conservative leadership has secured its new spending plans despite batting away protests from the opposition Labour group, which failed in its bid to secure a freeze.

The rise will add more than £42 to the average band D households, while for people in the biggest properties it will increase by at least £85.

But the move will see an extra £8.4 million pumped into easing Worcestershire's demographic pressures, with half helping the budget for looked-after children and the rest going towards elderly care.

It was voted through 33-17 after nearly two hours of frenetic debate where Labour put forward an alternative spending plan.

The party wanted to slash the hiring of outside consultants, reduce hospitality spending, use less outside foster care companies and raid the reserves to create a £9.5 million fund - with group leader Councillor Peter McDonald arguing they could then freeze council tax and pump another £1 million into activities for young people.

It also claimed £3.4 million could be saved by aiming to reduce four per cent off scores of contracts the authority has with outside service providers.

It was derided by the Tories and Liberal Democrats, who called it "laughable" and "financially irresponsible", with fears it would leave a £38 million black hole within four years and lead to even more cuts down the line.

The Liberal Democrat group also failed in its own amended budget proposals, which included beefing up a £500,000 investment pot for pavements to £1 million.

Speaking during the meeting, Councillor McDonald said: "I like many others in the county want to see an end to such cruel austerity measures.

"This increase (of 3.9 per cent) means over a period of just three years, a council tax rise of eight per cent has been imposed on the people of Worcestershire.

"It is making the poor poorer and the most vulnerable even more vulnerable."

Labour Councillor Richard Udall added: "Worcestershire residents are hurting, they are suffering the pain of austerity".

But it was severely criticised by the other parties, with some questioning whether it would be legally acceptable.

Tory Councillor Marc Bayliss, a cabinet member, said: "I've heard of fantasy football, but this is fantasy economics.

"The cost of Labour's plan is £38 million over a four-year period, it's a pipe dream and utter folly."

He called it "a scam", saying "Labour want to make this council cut services even harder to keep the books in the black".

Fellow Councillor Marcus Hart called it "more than pathetic", saying it would be "grossly irresponsible" while Lib Dem Councillor Fran Oborski labelled it "the most ludicrous budget amendment I've seen in 42 years as a councillor" and suggested some service providers could take them to court if council chiefs tried to renegotiate contracts.

Councillor McDonald also referred to the extra £5 million cash boost from the Government which will prop up the 2016/17 budget, saying Councillor Geraghty “should have got more” from his crunch talks at Westminster.

He referred to Surrey getting £24 million, Hampshire getting £19 million and Oxfordshire securing an additional £9 million this week, saying the leader should “get his mum and even auntie” to intervene much like David Cameron’s mother, Mary Cameron, had in Oxford.

Earlier in the debate Councillor Geraghty told the chamber his talks with Local Government Secretary Greg Clark proved he was “not afraid to stand up for this county”.

As we first revealed on Monday, the £5 million is transitional grant funding split over the next two financial years, and follows concern over a record 33% cut in the main Revenue Support Grant for Worcestershire for 2016/17, which left County Hall £11 million worse off overall and frantic work being done in recent weeks to plug the gap.

Several more councillors got involved in heated exchanges today before both the Labour and Lib Dem amendments were rejected, paving the way for the leadership’s spending plans to be voted through.

The full council tax bands for 2016/17 will be available at the end of this month once the district councils and fire service have finalised their budgets.

The £322 million budget includes part of a record, two-year £12 million plan to improve county roads, a £2.2 million project to revamp six key town and city centres and £500,000 of extra capital spending on pavements.

It also includes around £25 million of savings, mainly due to inflation and demographic pressures, but extra cuts will need to be made in 2017/18, with the forecasted savings target rising to £35 million.