A FREEZE on council tax has been agreed by Thurrock Councillors... but there will be an increase for the police bill.

The Police and Crime Commissioner and Essex Police have increased their part by 1.996 per cent. The Essex Fire and Rescue Service also have no increase.

This means those people living in a Band D property will receive a bill of £1,338.21. The majority of homes in Thurrock are Band C where the overall bill will be £1,189.52.

Proposing the measure for Thurrock’s part of the bill, council leader Councillor John Kent said his favourite use of the word “increase” in the agenda item was “a zero percent increase”.

Mr Kent described the zero increase as “a difficult decision”, and the budget as a whole as the toughest the council have ever had to set.

He added: “We will be receiving over £30 million less than in 2010 and over £10 million less than we received last year – and I make no apology for saying, no matter who wins or ends up in government after May the cuts will just keep on coming, year after year.

“Despite this we are putting forward a balanced budget for next year, and we have even found enough spare so we are able to protect Thurrock’s hard-working council tax payers from another increased bill.”