The second lowest council tax rise in West Yorkshire was voted through tonight as Bradford Council agreed its budget for the new financial year.

It means that from April residents will pay 2.5 per cent more in their council tax bill.

Those in an average band D property will now pay £1,231.66 a year to help fund Council services.

It follows the lowest rise in the region last year at 2.2 per cent and is still below the rate of inflation.

Elsewhere Calderdale’s council tax increase is the lowest at 1.8 per cent. Wakefield is expected to vote for the highest rise, 3.8 per cent, on Monday.

The budget decision follows an agreement reached earlier in the week by the ruling Conservatives with the backing of the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

As a result the Labour party’s budget proposals were unable to beat the three-way pact, which was voted through with support from the British National Party. Only Labour councillors voted against it.

A total of £420.5 million is needed to run the Council next year, which will be made up of a Government grant of £263.6m and council tax receipts of £156.8m. Interest totalling £2.9m generated by the funds from the sale of Leeds-Bradford Airport is also being used.

In a 40-minute meeting tonight at City Hall, Council leader Kris Hopkins said: “In a period of great economic difficulty for many people living in our district, I believe this budget represents and affordable, responsible but also exciting way forward for this Council and those we serve. It is now time for us to deliver on it.”

The Tories had initially put forward a financial package that would have seen a 1.8 per cent council tax rise, but concessions to the Lib Dems to secure their support saw the figure rise earlier this week.

Liberal Democrat group leader Jeanette Sunderland said the budget process needed to be improved.

She said: “We will not take part in this sort of budget process again.”

Green group deputy leader Kevin Warnes praised the creation of a new environment unit and said his councillors had wanted to go further and spend all the airport funds on making Bradford the greenest council in the country.

Labour group leader Ian Greenwood said his party’s budget plans would have resulted in a 2.7 per cent rise.

He described the deal between the Tories, Lib Dems and Greens as “a budget for cynical political manoeuvres”.

“You can’t have low tax and high spend – that’s what this authority has been doing and it will come back to bite you,” he said.