Ipswich councillors have voted overwhelmingly to reject a report that would have given them a £1,000 increase in their allowances over the next year.

An independent panel had recommended the change because Ipswich Councillors have the lowest allowances in Suffolk – and the rise would still have left them with low relative rewards.

However council leader David Ellesmere proposed an amendment which would endorse the panel’s recommendation to keep allowances under review – but would scrap the proposed rise of £500 now and a further £500 next year.

He said that would have forced the council to make a further saving of £76,000 when it was already struggling with its finances and was having to propose cuts to services.

The only person not to back the amendment was opposition Tory group leader Ian Fisher who said the next review should be next year, not in 2022 as proposed by the council leadership.