Croydon residents are bracing themselves for a whopping 11 per cent increase in council tax from April.

The figures, expected to be approved at a council meeting tonight, mean that the average Band D taxpayer will have to pay almost £70 more than last year -- that's £1.31 a week extra.

Opposition leader Dudley Mead said the increase was "merciless and unnecessarily high" and said he would be presenting an alternative budget on March 2 which would cut spending while keeping council tax down.

The increase has been blamed on two factors. The government has said councils across the country have to find more cash from local sources, which meant Croydon's annual cash grant was not enough.

Also, the cash-strapped Metropolitan Police has indicated it will need 25 per cent this year.

That means Croydon Council taxpayers will bear the brunt of the shortfall. The only way for the tax to be kept low would be for yet more frontline services to be cut.

Councillor Mead said: "Labour has raised the tax by 31 per cent in four years while inflation has gone up by just over 10 per cent. It's a hell of an increase and totally unnecessary. We reckon Band D taxpayers should only be paying £660 a year."

Council leader Valerie Shawcross said: "No-one can accuse this council of spending extravagance or of ignoring the wishes of the public.

"Obviously we cannot please everyone.

"The responsibility of budget-making is never easy and the pressures facing us this year means we have to look critically at some spending areas which wouldn't always have been our first choice for economies."

See the table below to calculate what you could have to pay in council tax, from April.

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