Councillors at the first meeting of the Town Council in Radstock in 2020 were impressed to hear that it has managed to bring in a budget which will mean no increase in council taxes.

Drawing on reserves and making some small cuts, the council has managed to keep the precept the same, in spite of funding cuts.

The figures revealed at the meeting mean that the current tax on a Band D property in the town will remain at £154.31.

Cllr Chris Dando explained to the meeting how the budget had been worked out and that their aim had always been to keep costs under control.

He told Nub News after the meeting: " We know that people don't have money and that the price of everything is going up. People don't want to spend money they don't have. So we wanted to keep it to a zero."

Earlier he had told the meeting on January 20, that the accounting of the town council was also going to be improved, with greater clarity of spending.

The Mayor of Radstock, Cllr Bevan said of the council tax freeze : " Obviously it is good news."

There will be some additional costs for the council going into the year, including plans to open the library for an extra hour each day and also to open on Saturdays.

But officials were told that it would be hoped that these will be covered in normal operating costs.

More news from the council meeting, including a special report on Haydon Batch, listing butterflies and moths which inhabit the wild areas, coming up in Nub News.