Council tax in Littlehampton, Arundel and Bognor will rise by an inflation-busting 6.2 per cent from next month.

The Arun District Council share of the tax will go up 4.5 per cent, meaning a Band D householder will pay £104.40, a rise of £4.45.

This will be added to the West Sussex County Council share of £660.78, £59.13 for the police and the average parish or town precept of £36.85.

The average householder will pay a total of £861.16 a year compared to last year's £811.06, a rise of 6.2 per cent.

The council's Tory leader Derek Whittaker said: "New schemes proposed are mainly directed towards maintaining and renewing the basic council infrastructure, vehicles and property as well as the vital Arun lifeline services.

"Also included in the one-off expenditure is the funding for the East Bank redevelopment visitor centre, the new visitor information centre and CCTV for the site. At last I am feeling confident a start will be made this year on this long-overdue scheme which is part of our programme to regenerate Littlehampton.

"We have also earmarked our contribution towards the reopening of the swimming pool.

"We are continuing to build on our strong platform. There is no need to change our strategy. The budget delivers what we said - service stability, no cuts and growth in line with council priorities."

Labour's Mike Northeast said the budget put more pressure on parish councils, who had to increase their charges.