West Sussex householders will have to pay a huge tax increase, councillors have confirmed.

When council tax bills arrive in April they will be going up by 18.5 per cent. The average Band D tax will go up by £134.37 to £859.32 as a result.

The controversial increases were made by West Sussex County Council on Friday.

The hike means council taxpayers in Adur face increases of nearly 30 per cent.

Taxpayers face an increase of 10.79 per cent in the amount they pay to Adur District Council in the next financial year on top of the 18.5% to the county council.

Tory-led council said its share of the increase would put just 33p per week on the average council tax bill.

Its executive police board had been recommended to approve an increase of 12.19 per cent for the 2003/04 financial year.

The recommendation came after a survey of Adur residents said they would rather see rises of around that level than have their services cut.

Council leader Neil Parkin said the council had gone out of its way to consult residents who had decided they wanted to see council tax increases rather than service cuts.

He said: "This level of increase is as low as possible and ensures that we can continue to improve our services to the local community.

"As ever, we have had to balance the competing demands of the need to improve services and our desire to keep council tax within reasonable limits.

"Unfortunately, however, the level of increase set by the County Council and Sussex Police will mean Adur Council taxpayers paying more this year."