HOUSEHOLD tax bills in Ipswich will go up by just under 2.7 per cent in April after the borough council approved its figures.The borough element of council tax is to go up by 2.

HOUSEHOLD tax bills in Ipswich will go up by just under 2.7 per cent in April after the borough council approved its figures.

The borough element of council tax is to go up by 2.4 pc – making the total figure for the town 2.69 pc after county council and police authority elements are added in.

The final figure was agreed after a long meeting at Suffolk County Council's headquarters of Endeavour House.

It was punctuated by the Labour opposition unsuccessfully attempting to amend the council's capital proposals.

And there was even an attempt to move to a vote while several members of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration were taking a "comfort break" in the toilets.

On the night the Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration had a majority of three in the council chamber.

Finance spokesman John Carnall said the rise was well under the current rate of inflation – and reflected the wishes of most people in Ipswich.

He said: "In our survey we found that 81 pc of people in Ipswich wanted council tax bills to be kept down to below the rate of inflation and we have achieved that."

However opposition budget spokesman John Le Grys warned that the council was storing up problems in the future.

He said: "This budget is only good for this year – the administration will not find it possible to sustain this in the future. Maybe they aren't looking that far ahead."