COUNCILLORS in Llay say there was no other option but to increase council tax for all residents living in Wrexham.

Bryan Apsley and Rob Walsh, who both represent the village as county borough councillors, provided their assessment at a meeting Llay Community Council on Wednesday evening.

The 5.5% increase will mean households paying an extra £60 a year in council tax, which Cllr Apsley said there was little opposition to, as there was no realistic alternative on the table and warned budgets cuts were likely to continue for several years.

He said: "Both myself and Rob found ourselves in between a rock and a hard place.

"The budget has been cut again and I can see this being the case for the next two or three years the way it's going.

Cllr Apsley also has concerns that the cuts being made at county level will have a knock on effect for community councils, with a demand on the services they provide likely to increase.

He added: "Even though we're already feeling it now, the pressure on community councils will grow even greater next year and the year after that, there's no doubt about it."

Cllr Rob Walsh said the people of Wrexham had every right to be unhappy with the rise, but that the problem was much worse in neighbouring authorities, such as Flintshire, where rates went up by 8.75% this week.

He said: "Obviously people are going to be unhappy with the increase and quite rightly but I don't think there was any other option. And if you look at our neighbouring authorities, they've had much worse increases, so it was the best we could do.

"The only other alternative would have resulted in serious cuts to very important services."

Wrexham council have had to make budget cuts totalling £5.8m this year, with libraries facing closure or relocation to other buildings under the proposals outlined, but plans to cut free transport for pupils attending faith schools and to charge for green bin collections have been dropped.