Council taxpayers in West Sussex face an increase in their bills when the demands are sent out in April.

A tax rise of between five and six per cent is likely to be recommended by members of the county council's Cabinet at a meeting next week.

The actual amount still hinges on the final details of the grants the Government will award councils which are due to be announced within the next few days. But the current average Band D council tax bill for county council services, which stands at £620.46, is almost certain to go up by at least five per cent.

Still to be added to that figure will be the police precept and the money needed by each of the county's seven district and borough councils to run their services.

Proposals going in front of the West Sussex Cabinet on Monday will mean a £539 million budget for the new financial year, which is an increase of £31 million.

Cabinet members will be told there will be major improvements in many services during the next year, with education due to get £2.8 million to meet increased pupil numbers with another £6.3 million worth of improvements supported by the Government's Standards Fund.

The budget also includes spending, which the council says cannot be avoided, including £2.2 million to help pay for the increased amount of waste being disposed of in West Sussex and to pay the Government's landfill tax.

Helen Kilpatrick, the council's director of resources, will tell Cabinet members that council tax bills will still be "consistently low" compared to other county councils.

Her report says: "Depending on the final local government settlement, the budget proposals imply a council tax increase of between five and six per cent."

The Cabinet's tax recommendation on Monday will then have to go to the full county council at its meeting on February 16, for approval.