Residents of a Norfolk town will soon see an increase on their bills as concillors agreed to rise council tax by 13.6pc this evening.

Eastern Daily Press: Diss Mere. Picture: SIMON PARKERDiss Mere. Picture: SIMON PARKER (Image: Archant)

The reality of the increase means residents will be paying an additional £1.86 per month, totalling just over £22 annually for each household in Diss.

Part of the money raised by Diss Town Council from the suggested increase would go towards staff salary rises.

The authority had proposed to increase its share of the council tax by 15.3pc for an average Band D property, from £163.92 to £186.27 per year.

The rise comes before any other council has made decisions over their share of the council tax bill, meaning the final amount residents of the Norfolk town would pay could be much higher.

Part of the £62,272 the town council will raise from the increased bills will go towards raising salaries for its staff, with unions nationally currently consulting on a 2pc rise for workers earning above £19,430 and up to 16pc for those on lower pay.

Councillors also agreed to slash its grants budget by £3,400 as Waveney Food Bank still has its provision available from last year's budget and the Corn Hall Trust which is beginning to garner its own revenue from the likes of room hire.

The entire budget for the next financial year will see a net increase of £43,261 on from this year's total, more than double the increase from 2016/17 to 2017/18.

It was also announced at the meeting that cllr Mike Bardwell has resigned from his post thus becoming the third official to depart the council in recent months.

The council also appointed cllr Julian Mason as its new leader following the resignation of Graham Minshull last month.

Finally the councillors also decided Diss will play host to a brand new music festival this summer after they agreed to allow seasoned organisers to choose the town as its next venue.