HOUSEHOLDERS in Newent, Dymock and the surrounding areas are facing an increase of 6.8 per cent in their council tax demand from Gloucestershire County Council.

The county council's precept constitutes the largest part of the bill and its budget will be discussed by the ruling cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday.

Its plans may be subject to change following suggestions by the government that more money could be allocated to local authorities.

Council leader Peter Clarke said the authority intended to allocate £1 million to schools above the figure recommended by the government and would put its proposals out to public consultation in January.

"Despite that recommended increase, a range of services would suffer from restricted investment," he said.

"For example, we propose pulling back on road maintenance to pay for the increased and unavoidable costs of disposing of our county's waste.

"We're also going to have to slow the expansion of social services and continue to focus on the people within our communities with the most critical needs."

The council tax will be set on February 18. The council's element of the bill rose by 13.1 per cent last year to £843.81 for an average Band D property. Another 6.8 per cent would add £57.40 to that.