Councillors have clashed over efforts to force a debate over imposing a referendum on future council tax hikes.

Government legislation requires all local authorities to seek the public's approval if they want to put council tax up by more than five per cent.

And Cheshire West and Chester’s Conservative group recently tabled a 'notice of motion' calling for the policy to continue - even if it is eventually scrapped by the government.

At a recent meeting of full council, the Conservatives claimed that since 2015, Cheshire West and Chester’s council tax had risen 47.7 per cent, which they said was ‘significantly higher' than the Bank of England inflation figures’. But the figures were disputed by the Labour group which called them 'inaccurate'.

The notice of motion, proposed by Cllr Charles Hardy (Tarporley) stated that any proposed increase of council tax above 4.99 per cent should still be subject to a local referendum, regardless of any policy changes which may be brought in by the government in the future.

Notices of motion require councillors to vote to debate an item further in the chamber, but on this occasion it did not receive enough votes and so was not discussed at the meeting. A total of 27 councillors voted to debate it, and 36 voted against. After the notice of motion was defeated, the council chair referred the item to cabinet.

Speaking after the meeting, councillor Lynn Gibbon (Marbury), Cheshire West Conservative group leader, said: "We are furious Labour refused to even debate the idea of providing certainty for residents.

"With this commitment, residents would have been able to have their say on the heavy burden they are asked to fund each year and incentivises council to keep tax increases low."

She added: “Now, if the national policy changes, Labour could have a free-for-all to dip their hands into residents’ pockets for far more than their fair share.

"Yet they refuse to even debate this important point in public.

"While the last Conservative council administration kept tax low, we will continue to oppose Labour-run Cheshire West Council’s policy of tax to the max.”

But Cllr Carol Gahan, Labour’s Cheshire West & Chester Council cabinet member for legal & finance, hit back, she said: "The motion put forward by the Conservatives was factually incorrect.

"Council tax increases since 2015 have been below inflation, and they incorrectly included the adult social care precept for our most vulnerable adults as part of their council tax figures."

She added: “The Conservatives should remember it was their Government which chose to cut the things communities rely on, which is why council services and all other public services are under pressure.

"Communities across Cheshire West have been starved of funding and opportunity because of 14 years of Tory failure."