TOP officials at North Yorkshire County Council are set to recommend a council increase of more than ten per cent tomorrow.

This means that householders living in an average Band D property, in districts including Selby and Ryedale, would pay an extra £68 per year.

But council leader John Weighell hoped the actual rise would be less than the 10.25 per cent proposed by senior officers.

He said: "I'm optimistic that we will go below the 10.25 per cent increase tomorrow.

"I think it could be nearer 9.75 per cent, which is not a huge difference, but every little helps."

He said the proposed increases were due to unforeseen emergencies in the region, such as the Selby rail disaster, floods and foot and mouth, and Government cuts in social services two years ago.

"Obviously we think it's a fairly high increase, but there are very good reasons why it has to be," he said.

"The main reason is to put the council's finances on a sound footing."

Coun Weighell said the county council social services department overspent by more than £4 million last year on caring for children and the elderly, because of Government cuts in 1999.

"More than half of the council tax increase is going on that one issue," he said.

In a report to the council executive's meeting tomorrow, chief executive Jeremy Walker said the rise of 10.25 per cent would enable them to achieve all its budget objectives and restore revenue balances to a higher level of £3.67m.

He said: "The overriding objective for the level of council tax as previously agreed by the county council is to keep it at a level below the average for the English shire counties.

"The proposed increase in the consultation budget 10.25 per cent would be likely to achieve that."

Coun Weighell said: "We've got to get things on a firm financial footing now and then hopefully the rises will be much less in another year."

Updated: 08:44 Monday, February 11, 2002