PLANS to raise council tax while earmarking an extra £5 million for battling floods have been confirmed at County Hall.

Worcestershire County Council's ruling cabinet announced its planned 2008/09 budget yesterday, with council tax levels for county residents to increase by 4.3 per cent - as revealed earlier this week by your Worcester News.

If agreed by the rest of the council, this will mean a rise of around £42 on the average band D bill.

But there was good news for those worried about a repeat of last July's disastrous flooding, as the council confirmed it will be borrowing £5 million to mitigate the effects of future floods.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the cabinet member in charge of finance, said: "People do expect some mitigation over this issue of highway flooding. It's therefore entirely correct that the cabinet should recommend this £5 million change to the budget.

"It does therefore mean council tax will have to rise slightly to accommodate this change - it would have been possible for us to go with a 3.98 per cent rise, otherwise."

Councillor Derek Prodger, the cabinet member for the environment, said the investment would not actually stop future flooding, but instead would help reduce the likely damage to the county. "I'd like to stress this money is for flood mitigation, not prevention," he said.

"What we have found since last July is that there are works which could help to mitigate the effects.

This is something which will now probably happen on a regular basis."

Other key plans included in the budget are the county's £6.4 million contribution towards Worcester's new £60 million library and history centre, and plans for developments around the Christopher Whitehead School.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the cabinet member for economy and performance, stressed the budget would only add up if the council continues to be more efficient over the coming year.

"This budget depends on the ongoing efficiency savings we have to make," he said. "We absolutely cannot take our foot off the efficiency pedal."

The cabinet plans will be voted on by the full council later this month.