Kent County Council (KCC) will be now able to hike its slice of council tax by 5% without the need for a referendum, the government has confirmed.

The Chancellor announced the proposal in his Budget speech, although he did not go into detail, saying only that local authorities would have increased flexibility.

Securing the extra cash from residents is likely to be a tempting prospect for KCC, with leader Roger Gough this week warning it could go bankrupt.

The increase could see annual bills for some Kent households breaking £3,000 just for the county council share.

The option of increasing average bills could leave people struggling to meet costs.

Labour has accused the government of a "council tax bombshell" that will cost an extra £100 on average bills.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves levelled the accusation at the Chancellor in her response and there was further criticism of the way the government had "sneaked out" the announcement.

She said: "Local people including those living in Conservative council areas will be forced to pay more because of the destruction the Conservatives has wreaked on our economy at a time when councils are in dire straits because of cuts by the government."

Average household bills for Kent County Council this financial year stand at £1,461 - that excludes the tax paid for district and borough councils, the police and parish councils.

A 5% hike would see KCC’s share of the bill increase to £1,534 for Band D homes.

For properties in the highest band, a 5% increase would bills over the £3,000 mark, rising from £2,922.48 to £3,138.

Those in the lowest band would see the KCC share of the bill rising to £1,022.

Like most local authorities, KCC has for many years set tax rises to whatever cap the government has set - for 2022-23 it was 2%. A further 2% was permitted to help councils with rising costs for social care.

In its assessment of the impact, the Office for Budget Responsibility said: "Council tax receipts have been revised up by increasing amounts across the forecast period relative to March, reaching £3.3billion (6.9%) in 2026-27.

"This reflects the decision to give councils in England increased flexibility to raise council tax bills without the need for a local referendum, which is expected to result in bills rising by around 5% a year over the next five years.”

In other budget announcements, Kent has been omitted from a group of county councils that will have directly elected mayors.

And the controversial plans for investment zones which were promoted by ex-PM Liz Truss will be downgraded. That will please Kent Tory MPs who had voiced reservations about plans to give developers the right to build.

Investment zones will be centred on universities in “left-behind areas” to help build growth clusters, with further announcements at the spring budget.