Council tax will soar by an average of £81 in England next month as ministers confirm 5.1% hike – the highest rise in 14 YEARS

COUNCIL tax bills are set to soar by an average of £81 next month as ministers confirmed a 5.1 per cent hike in England.

Last year Sajid Javid gave councils permission to hike bills, including providing extra money to pay for social care and policing.

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Struggling families will now face the steepest hike in 14 years, with the average family set to pay £139 per month to local authorities from next month.

Scots will face a three per cent hike in their bills too.

Council leaders said they had no choice but to raise bills because the Tories had scrapped all their funding, giving them "little choice".

Brits in the shires will face the steepest rises of an additional £86, compared to Londoners who will see a hike of £55.

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A total of £29.6billion will be raised by local councils to pay for bin services, libraries, repairing potholes and other services.

Sajid Javid said insisted that bills were lower in real terms under the Conservatives.

He said: "Council tax in England is 7.6% lower in real terms than it was when we came to government and we have introduced a legal right for local taxpayers to veto excessive increases.

But Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s shadow communities and local government secretary said the rise shows under the Conservative government people are paying "more for less".

"Over the last eight years, council budgets have been reduced by 50% and services cut, with local people forced to pick up the slack as council tax bills soar,"; he said.

Earlier this month figures from the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy showed what the average hike was in your area.

The South East saw the biggest hike of £90, and it's a grim picture up North too, with Brits in Yorkshire set to pay £83 more, and in the North East you'll be forking out £89 more.

90 per cent of authorities they surveyed said they would charge up to an extra £13 to pay for policing in their areas.

Research out this month found that council tax costs the poorest families SIX times more than the rich.

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They can also charge an extra three per cent to pay for social care too - as our ageing population takes its toll on local services.

Almost three in four councils said they are hiking fees by the MAXIMUM amount they are allowed to without triggering a local referendum.

The news comes as Brits' wages are set to grow by an average of just 2.2 per cent, squeezing hard-working families again.

And just days ago it was revealed that Councils are set to slash services even more - despite hiking taxes.

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Millions are set to pay more on taxes, parking, burials and social care as authorities continue to try and slash their budgets and make ends meet.

An explosive council poll last month showed that 95 per cent of all local authorities in England plan huge bill rises this April - and 93 per cent want to hike charges too.

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This means council-provided services like waste collection, grass-cutting, meals on wheels and even planning will cost more to use.

Those living in Band E homes face a jump of up to £129, and larger Band H houses could see hikes of as much as £203.

The average band D equivalent in the North East is now £1,799, whereas inner London is £1,194.

Residents in Weymouth & Portland Borough Council pay the highest Band D council tax in England - £1,891. The lowest is in Westminster - £688.