RESIDENTS' council tax could rise by nearly five per cent from April, council leaders announced today.

Reading Borough Council plans to increase council tax on band D properties, by 4.99 per cent.

The changes are expected to approved in RBC's next policy committee meeting on February 13.

When addressing what she described as the most challenging budget in the council's history, leader Jo Lovelock said: “With no extra money forthcoming from Government and yet more cuts on the horizon, the responsibility for paying for the huge demands on adult and children’s social care has been firmly passed on to local tax payers by this Government.

“As the Government continues to cut funding for vital local services, changes this year mean it will now also take away 75 per cent of local business rates.

"Next year alone £90 million of rates collected from local businesses will leave Reading and go to Government. This is on top of the £50 million it has removed from the Council since 2011."

Latest estimates show the council faces a £44m funding gap to 2019/20.

The council has seen a cut in Government funding of £57.5 million since the start of this decade to just £10 million in 2017/18. It will fall below £2 million in 2019/20.

Almost 70 per cent of Reading Borough Council spending is on adult and children’s social care, with 3 per cent of the 4.99 per cent rise to be committed to social care.

Band C homes, the most numerous in Reading, will have to pay more than £1,531 each year with the addition of police and fire precepts to their council tax.