SANDOWN residents will face a five per cent council tax precept rise from April.

The move was decided at the Sandown Town Council meeting on Monday.

The average taxpayer, Band D, will have to fork out an extra £6.80 a year — or 13p a week — moving from £138.90 to £145.70.

A call to cut a £1,000 mayoral allowance was rejected. Cllr Alex Lightfoot said he thought it had been used for pet projects and said it was not democratic.

The increase will pay for more CCTV at The Broadway Centre and Sandham Gardens, after high levels of anti-social behaviour.

Elsewhere, £39,500 will fund beach safety - a new lifeboat, lifeguard equipment, training, hut and services.

Read more:

Sandown mayor, Cllr Paddy Lightfoot, said no one had wanted to put the precept up, but "living in the real world" meant inflation was hitting the town council and its costs and services, the same as everyone else.

He said if the council did not increase its precept by five per cent it was effectively cutting things.

The precept has not risen for Sandown residents for the past two years.

Money has also been set aside for a possible Sandown-based planning enforcement officer. Some argued it was needed, but that it was the Isle of Wight Council's duty to carry out the enforcement and should not be locally funded.

Cllr Emily Brothers said while good things were included the budget, it did not address inequality and environmental challenges.

Cllr Alex Lightfoot recognised it was going to be a 'very challenging year'.

Read more:

Cllr Lightfoot said: "[The clerks] have worked hard to get the precept as low as we can, while being practical about ensuring we have the provisions we need, so we can replace things when they break.

"It is a challenging, but very good budget."

Eleven councillors backed the increase.

On top, there will be police and fire precepts and an increase of up to 2.99 per cent on the main council tax bill, likely to be set by the Isle of Wight Council at a meeting on February 23.