BRIGHTON and Hove householders will pay the lowest council tax in Sussex again from next April.

Councillors are being recommended to approve a typical Band D rate of £698.

While kept under £700, it is still a hefty rise on the current £652 and well above the inflation rate.

The proposed figure is about £50 below the national average and £250 less than for a comparable city, such as Bristol.

It is also well below figures of more than £800 likely to be fixed for towns such as Eastbourne and Worthing.

The sum includes money to be paid to Sussex Police. On a Band D property that will be £53.

Seven out of ten people in Brighton are in the three lower bands and 43 per cent receive a discount because they live on their own. Almost one in five pays no tax.

Council leader Lord Bassam said today: "Our Government grant has improved dramatically since the provisional figures were approved just before Christmas."

Finance chief Lynette Gwyn-Jones said the council had built up reserves which gave it some leeway for deciding how money should be spent.

Education will get a 7.5 per cent increase in spending and social services eight per cent more.

Schemes being considered for an extra £1 million new capital investment are improvements to the Open Market and St James's Street, disabled access and better street lighting.

New council tax rates, if approved at a budget meeting on March 4, are: Band A £465, B £543, C £620, D £698, E £853, F £1,008, G £1,163 and H £1,396.

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