Cheshire West's Cabinet member for finance has refused to rule out a council tax rise above two per cent, meaning that Frodsham and Helsby residents could soon be seeing an increase in their bills.

Cllr Carol Gahan, when asked by host and former BBC reporter Dave Guest at a public Question Time session if the council would seek a referendum to raise council tax above two per cent, said: "Our plans have been prepared on the basis of a two per cent increase in council tax. This is the extent to which we can increase before we need to go for a referendum [by law].

"This has been suggested by central government but the decision to raise council tax is never taken lightly, but it is always something we have to consider. We have to raise our money locally to fund our services."

Although CWAC's pandemic financial shortfall has fallen to £1 million over the past months, the authority is considering plans which will cut 180 jobs.

The losses are due to the fact the government is asking the borough to save between £34 million and £43 million in the coming years.

"We are very aware of the financial challenges that our residents face, in particular some in the borough who are our most vulnerable," added Cllr Gahan.

"So we really care about them. We try to balance the need for locally raised income with the additional burden that would place on residents."

Previously, Cllr Gahan has fended off challenges from her Conservative shadow counterpart Cllr Neil Sullivan to pledge council tax would not rise beyond the referendum limit.