BURY residents' council tax bills are to rise by nearly six per cent.

The 5.94 per cent increase was approved at the council's budget meeting at the town hall this evening.

Cllr Eamonn O'Brien, cabinet member for finance and housing, said the council had put the needs of the borough's most vulnerable people first.

The rise is made up of a an increase in the basic level of council tax of 1.94 per cent, plus a further one per cent ring fenced for children's social care and to the borough's children's centre.

And on top of this there is an additional three per cent increase for adult social care.

Commending the budget - which also includes £600,000 to regenerate the borough's six townships and a further £250,000 for road improvements - council leader Rishi Shori said: "This is a budget we have developed with our hearts and our head — we make no apology for that. Our challenges are great, but our hopes and aspirations are greater."

Cllr O'Brien said the budget came at a time of growing crisis in the country's public.

He said: "Bury has lost just short of £300m in total since 2010 due to the flawed and self-defeating Tory obsession with austerity. The scale and pace at which the council has had to make cuts is staggering, and far outstrips anything seen by the previous generations."

He added that the council had no choice but to raise council tax by nearly six percent as no further money had been forthcoming from the government to address the funding gap and growing demand on services.

He said: "The Tories have a high tax, no spend approach and are content to push the burden on to the many, while the few are doing better than ever before. Local taxpayers are having to pay the price for the Conservative Party's economic failure.

"We now face the prospect of endless austerity, a leaderless government with no serious domestic agenda. You have to ask if austerity has been worth it?"

But Conservative group leader said Labour's budget lacked vision and aspiration.

He said: "There's so much that can be done by a council to influence the lives of people in this borough with imaginative thinking to increase revenue generation to raise funds for public services."

He accused Labour of 'abdicating responsibility' by blaming the government and austerity.

But an amendment to Labour's budget put forward by the Conservative group, which included the establishment of a Community Interest Company to run the borough's leisure facilities, was not carried.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Tim Pickstone said the council was in a 'quite horrific situation' to have to set a budget in such difficult circumstances.

But he said that the Labour group had failed to specify what the cuts in its budget were and while he felt it was 'good and laudable' to focus on children's social care he added: "In all honesty I can't vote for a 17 per cent increase (in council tax) over three years."

A Liberal Democrat amendment, which included £500,000 to 'kick-start' the Prestwich Town Centre Challenge regeneration and an additional £10m for road repairs was also blocked.