IT has been confirmed that the local council tax precept levied by Basildon Council will raised by by 2.97 per cent, making an annual average househol payment £287.19.

Basildon Nub News reported on the projected changes last week, and now they have been rubber-stamped by the council's cabinet.

The increase, that will be accompanied by expenditure cuts to help close an budget gap of £3.4million.

Funding to keep street lights on between 1am and 5am and for additional police officers in the borough is being cut, in a move the opposition described as "an open invitation to criminals."

Additionally, charges for optional garden waste collections are being introduced, while council house rents are being increased by 7 per cent.

Cabinet member for resources and commercial Cllr Stuart Sullivan said external national pressures such rising inflation had made setting a balanced budget "extremely challenging."

He said: "But it is a challenge the administration and our officers have risen to, taking at times difficult decisions we deem necessary to not only ensure the council remains solvent, but to protect the provision of the services our residents rely on, whilst still continuing a programme of ambitious investment in our borough."

He continued to say funding for additional police had been introduced against a backdrop of falling officer numbers but these have since increased, and that the cost of electricity for street lighting to the council has nearly doubled.

Cllr Sullivan said: "The council is no longer in a position to finance services which other bodies are obliged to provide." He later said: "The removal of funding from both police and street lighting will be mitigated by the council continuing to fund street wardens, who are actively dedicated to disrupting criminal and antisocial activity in the borough."

Opposition leader Cllr Maryam Yaqub said the budget is an "open invitation to criminals" and that the administration had previously promised to prioritise tackling crime and antisocial behaviour. She said: "There will now be fewer police on our streets and those streets will be plunged into darkness."