Every household in East Sussex will receive a letter from the leader of the county council explaining why council tax bills are so high.

Residents are being hit with bills of up to 38 per cent higher following a harsh grant settlement by the Government.

Now East Sussex County Council leader Peter Jones is taking the unprecedented step of writing to all residents explaining why their bills are huge this year.

He will explain the Tory-run council needed an extra £40 million in order to maintain its services but the Government gave East Sussex just an extra £10 million, leaving a £30 million shortfall.

Mr Jones said in order to avoid cuts in services, the only way to bridge the gap was to increase bills.

He said: "As leader of the council, I want you to know how much I regret this situation.

"This is not something we wanted to do.

"We would have preferred to build on our achievement of last year when we set the lowest tax increase for any county in England of 4.9 per cent.

"East Sussex received the second worst settlement for any county council in the country but other areas, most notably in the Midlands and the North, got far more generous grants."

The letters will be posted to residents within the next few weeks.