PEOPLE in Hambleton will see their council tax increase by an average of £55 this year, with around £5 of that going to the district council.

Hambleton is one a number of low charging councils across the country allowed by central government to levy an average £5 increase for 2016/17, because the grant given for freezing council tax is no longer on offer. Band D properties will pay an extra £5, but the increase will be more for higher tax bands and less for lower bands.

Hambleton council leader Mark Robson said: "For the past five years we have been able to freeze council take for our residents – but with the ending of the central government grant this is something we can no longer do.

"When we asked business owners and residents how they felt about any increase in council tax most were positive saying they were supportive of a rise to invest in council services."

When charges from North Yorkshire County Council, North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and parishes are included, the bill rises by an average of an average of £55.60.