A COUNCIL has announced a freeze on car park charges.

Halstead Town Council will not be increasing the prices in its car parks in Butler Road and Chapel Street once the new financial year begins in April.

Drivers will continue to be charged 70p for 90 minutes and £1.50 for three hours.

The town council will also retain its free parking after 3pm policy and letting prices for allotments will also remain unchanged.

Parking permits will however go up in price by 10 per cent as the authority braces itself to lose the £7,008 localism grant.

The grant will not be made available by Braintree Council, which itself will have its funding cut by central government.

Halstead Town Council has announced residents will be charged an extra two per cent in council tax, meaning the the representative Band D will go up by 90p.

The changes have been agreed after councillors gave the green light to the new budget in a monthly meeting.

Finance chairman Michael Radley said: "I’m pleased the council has approved the budget for 2019/20.

"Despite a reduction in the grant from Braintree Council the savings made in running costs mean that Halstead Town Council can minimise any price increases, keeping the rise in council tax to a modest two per cent compared to inflation running at around three per cent.

"With this budget we will be able to continue to provide the same services and run the events that we all know and love in Halstead.”