COUNCILLORS have unanimously agreed to raise the town council's share of council tax charge in order for Bridport to "continue being a successful town".

At Tuesday's full council meeting, members agreed to raise the charge for a Band D property by 6.36 per cent to £194.87 a year. The current charge for a Band D property is £183.22. With the council receiving its final funding from the local council tax support grant, the increase will give the authority £582,700, balance the budget and provide an extra £10,000 towards "future delegated services".

At last week's finance and social wellbeing committee, councillors were torn between two proposed increases. An additional five pence increase for Band D householders, as agreed on Tuesday, will give the town council an additional £10,000 to work with.

Last year, the town council took over the running of the Tourist Information Centre after the district council cut funding, while a £5,000 grant from the authority helped a trust take over Bridport Youth Centre following Dorset County Council's withdrawal of funding.

Cllr Sarah Williams, leader of the council, said: "I would say that this is a budget for everybody in Bridport.

"There are services that we will be looking at over the next few years that are very much needed. When the youth centre was going to disappear, we managed to take it over. As a town council, we will continue to support the youth and community centre. We need to continue to support all the people of Bridport."

Cllr Martin Ray said the council has "certainly got the ability to spend" the increased revenue to support people in the town.

Cllr Dave Rickard said: "We don't know what services will come down to us.

"It's our duty to be prudent and put by money for a rainy day. I think this is a very small price to pay to keep our accounts ahead of the game. We are doing a lot better than most because previous councils have been prudent."

The town council's precept will be £33,909 for the next financial year.

Cllr Anne Rickard added: "We are all in this together.

"All these cuts are coming from way above. If we want to continue being a successful town, we need to put our five pence in to keep it going.

"I think people of Bridport will be very happy to spend another five pence."