COUNCIL tax bills in Bury will be frozen for a second successive year although local authority tenants face an average rents increase of 6.2 per cent.

The decisions were endorsed at a special council budget meeting last night (Wed) which also approved savings of almost £8.9 million for the next financial year as part of a package of cuts totalling £17.7 million between now and 2015. This comes on top of savings of £14.4 million being made in the current financial year. Council leader Mike Connolly said: “The budget cuts imposed on the council by the Government are massive and unprecedented in scale. It’s not what we want to do, but we have been left with no choice and we have another two years to go.”

The council also agreed to three amendments to the original budget proposals. These are to scrap the controversial car parking charges at Fairfax Road, Prestwich, to reverse plans to charge Blue Badge holders to park as from next month and to provide an extra £100,000 for youth services.

The total savings made for the coming financial year involve almost £8 million in cuts plus an extra £800,000 to find as a result of keeping the council tax down.