RESIDENTS of Andover will pay the same amount to the town council as in the previous year as councillors passed the 2023/24 budget.

The Band D rate paid to Andover Town Council will remain at £21.10.

At a meeting of the council on Tuesday, February 8, members passed the budget as recommended by council officers.

The current budget, which has been approved stands at £406,989.15, last year the budget stood at £370,077.50

The budget will see increasing spending by £68,787 compared to the estimated spending by the end of this year. It will also result in £17,408 being spent from the general fund, which is predicted to increase to £50,425.81 by the end of the financial year.

READ MORE: Precept frozen as town council budget passes

The precept set will remain at £361,801.70 with no increase from the previous year.

Cllr Robin Hughes: "First we must thank our new town clerk for the extraordinary effort that she has gone into. 

"We have a choice this evening and that is to an increase of £1 or an £0 increase and that is the one that I will be proposing we accept and that is all I need to say."

Councillors said they were pleased that there was an option to not increase the precept but there was little debate.

The budget was approved with one vote against while the precept was approved unanimously.