A HIKE in council tax is inevitable for North Yorkshire residents next year, leaders said today.

City of York and County Council chiefs said extra cash must be found if services are to be improved during the next year.

It is too early to estimate how high the rise will be.

But North Yorkshire County Council leader John Weighell said: "Our key objectives are to achieve excellence in education, provide quality care for those in need and maintain a safe and effective transport infrastructure.

"The events and emergencies of the past 12 months have placed extreme pressure on the council's finances. We expect the Government to propose an increase in spending on services of around six per cent which will automatically lead to an increase in council tax well above the rate of inflation."

He said savings in spending on council departments will also need to be made.

"We cannot escape the prospect of further rises in council tax," he said."Our objective will be to ensure that in North Yorkshire the council tax rates stay below average among English counties."

A spokesman for City of York Council said: "We have already stated that once again we face a difficult budget situation for the next financial year.

"Budget setting is a long way off yet, but we are already looking at ways of protecting and enhancing key services through savings and other measures, and inevitably the level of council tax will come into our calculations."

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, October 25, 2001