SURREY County Council is poised to reject the Government's call for a tax freeze for the third consecutive year.

It follows the announcement by the council's Conservative leader, David Hodge, that it could go up by 1.99 per cent from April - just under the two per cent that would trigger a government-imposed referendum.

Mr Hodge announced his council's intentions on Monday, saying: "We're proposing a 1.99 per cent increase even though we've said we need 2.5 per cent, because any more means wasting up to £2m on a referendum.

"While it puts more pressure on services, we'll still be able to provide what residents expect with this increase."

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.