COUNCIL taxpayers in Kirklees will have to dig deeper into their pockets after an inflation-busting 8.2% rise in bills was agreed.

The huge jump will add £76 from April to the average yearly bill of £813.

Council leader Clr Kath Pinnock said fairer Government grants for Kirklees would have made a big difference.

She put her point in a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair today.

Clr Pinnock was among leaders invited to Downing Street after their councils were praised for their performance.

She said: "A fairer deal would make a substantial difference to the balance we have to make between services and council tax."

The increase in Kirklees council tax puts band D bills at £1,086 - up by £82.

Charges for band A - containing the highest number of properties - go up from £669 to £724.

The bill includes charges for police and fire authorities, over which Clr Pinnock said the council had no control.

She warned most non-education services faced £4.8m cuts to keep the council's element of the rise to 6.7%.

Clr Pinnock insisted: "We can assure local people that they do get value for money from their local council tax."

Both Labour and the Greens put forward council tax rises not far off those proposed by the Liberal Democrats.

But the rises were savaged by Conservatives.

Clr Robert Light, the Tory group leader, said: "Over the last 10 years council tax at band D in Kirklees has gone up from £629 to £1086 - a staggering £457 increase.

"The result is always the same - more for the public to pay.

"Kirklees has never tried to manage its spending levels prudently."

Education will take up almost £300m of the council's £408m spending budget.

Social services take an £85.8m slice while highways gets £21.7m.

A plan to charge for the removal of garden waste and bulky items was slammed by Labour.

Clr Mehboob Khan said: "It will lead to a massive increase in fly tipping when this is a problem that is already out of control."

Green Party leader Clr Andrew Cooper said money could be saved by changes in council staff car allowances and lower energy street lights.

He revealed his group would no longer be using the £3,000 hospitality allowance given to each of the political groups.

WHAT YOU WILL PAY (Kirklees Council Tax)

Band (Present) From April [Increase]

Band A (£669) £724 [£55]

Band B (£781) £845 [£64]

Band C (£893) £966 [£73]

Band D (£1,004) £1,086 [£82]

Band E (£1,227) £1,328 [£101]

Band F (£1,451) £1,569 [£118]

Band G (£1,674) £1,811 [£137]

Band H (£2,008) £2,173 [£165]