While the average council tax bill is set to rise by £60 a year, the cost of meals on wheels is likely to go up 50p and the Dial-a-Ride service could be hacked back.

This comes against a background of funding cuts to bus routes, which could leave those reliant on quieter off-peak services stranded.

Pensioners have hit out with members of the Sutton House lunch club in Grovehill calling the tax hike 'absolutely wicked'.

Joyce Heap, 82, said: "It's a lot for pensioners to have to pay up when pensions are not keeping pace with it.

"People are going to find it hard.

"Things are going up but the services are not keeping up. I don't know where the money is going."

Rona Dearing, 84, said: "We do have to pay highly for everything we go for but if we don't pay we're stuck indoors.

"Everything keeps going up."

Council tax is in line to rise by 4.5 per cent, bringing the average band D bill to £1,375.

Herts County Council's cabinet on Monday agreed a 4.5 per cent increase to its part of the tax, which makes up the lion's share.

Herts Police Authority will be meeting on Friday to set its budget but it is expected to rubberstamp a 4.99 per cent rise.

Last night Dacorum Borough Council's cabinet agreed a rise of 4.5 per cent.

Both the county and borough decisions will need to be ratified at full council meetings.

The borough's budget includes raising the price of meals on wheels to £2.75, which the council says is far below the £5.65 production cost and lower than neighbouring local authorities.

A charge of £30 plus VAT is being introduced for dealing with mouse infestations and there will be no more free dog pooper scoopers.

The county's budget includes a cut of £214,000 to the clothing allowance that helps less well-off parents buy school uniforms.

A topic group is also considering cutting the budget to the Dial-a-Ride service so it would not run in the evening or at weekends.

But £10million is due to be spent on improving roads and £16million revamping schools, including more than £2million for six schools in the Dacorum area.

The county's total budget is £649.965million.

Borough council leader Andrew Williams said: "We want to run services as efficiently as possible but having to reduce services is not something we're delighted about. We have to live with the funding available."

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