Homeowners in Mid Sussex will receive a four-figure council tax bill this year.

The average charge for a Band D property was set at more than £1,100 by Mid Sussex District Council last night.

Members of the authority's cabinet voted to increase its council tax claim by 8.9 per cent next year.

Tying in an 18.5 per cent rise from West Sussex County Council and a 36 per cent increase from Sussex Police, householders will pay a total of £1,111.91.

Last year's charge was £938.13.

The county council charge is £859.32, while residents will pay £97.74 to Sussex Police and a parish precept of £41.90.

The 8.9 per cent increase by Mid Sussex was the second of three options.

The first, a "standstill" increase of 6.1 per cent - 12p a week - was rejected as too little as it did not cover costs, while a 11.9 per cent rise was deemed excessive.

The extra council tax will cover an additional £84,000 to meet central government targets on recycling, £15,000 for new community houses and £60,000 to improve performance in the planning service. It brings the total budget to £12,506,000.

Council leader Christine Field said: "The council has undergone a great deal of uncertainty in the past few months, including last- minute changes to the funding we receive from central government and a shortfall of £84,000 in the local government settlement.

"This is without a doubt the most difficult process of budget setting we have faced to date and despite last-minute changes both officers and members have maintained their focus on the task in hand and firm financial control."

Today Coun Peter Jones said: "We had to consider recycling initiatives, the Government grant, and inflationary pressures. But I believe we have achieved the most balanced budget across the board that we could."

Coun Mike Gilks said: "We don't always get it right, or rather we can always do better. It has been the most sophisticated consultation process with the public so far.

"It's easy for a budget to get hijacked by single-issue pressure groups. Our job is to strike a balance for the people who can't shout loud or not at all."

For the first time the budget process was informed by focus groups.

Residents said the most important things were quality of environment, sense of community, community safety, transport, and recycling.