OXFORD City Council tonight ratified a four per cent increase in its share of the annual council tax bill.

The rise will come into effect from April 1.

The increase - double what was proposed by the ruling Liberal Democrat administration - was agreed at last week's budget setting meeting, the result of a collaboration between the council's Labour and Green groups.

It was rubber stamped tonight.

Average Band D homeowners in Oxford will end up paying about £5 more a year for city services such as recycling, street cleaning and parks maintenance.

The average homeowner's council tax bill, including the county council and police elements, will now come to about £1,484.66 - up £60 from last year.

May's elections, when half the Town Hall's 48 seats are up for grabs, could now become a "referendum on council tax", as a senior Lib Dem councillor put it.

The Liberal Democrats, who vigorously opposed an increase above two per cent, said they would make sure voters were told about the increase while they campaigned on the doorstep.

Labour maintained the increase was necessary to get the council back on track financially and to fund some of its spending proposals.