COUNCIL Tax in Brentwood is set to be cut, the Weekly News can reveal.

Brentwood Council leader Louise McKinlay has exclusively revealed the authority will be seeking to slash the charge as part of their budget plans.

The decision makes the authority one of just three nationally - along with Windsor & Maidenhead and Hammersmith & Fulham - to make such a pledge.

In March the council will vote on the annual budget and details of the cut will be revealed.

Mrs McKinlay said she felt it was important to keep council tax low.

She said: “Conservatives in Brentwood recognise the financial pressures our residents are under on a day-to-day basis and have tackled this by cutting and freezing council tax in Brentwood.

“The budget conditions remain challenging but through prudence, sound decisions and streamlining we have secured the future of services, which are important for Brentwood residents.

“We are now in the final stages of budget preparations and I am proud that we are able to deliver good, quality services, invest in our town and cut council tax at the same time.”

Last year council tax was frozen in the borough following on from a cut to the payment made by the ruling Conservative group in 2012.

Since 2011, the amount of Government grant money given to the council to help keep council tax down has been cut by 39.2 per cent.