Cllr Foulkes insisted the increase in council tax will help fund a major investment in high-speed internet access linking the borough’s business centres and attracting new companies.

There will also be an increase in the new apprenticeship scheme, a freeze in car parking charges, more funding for schools, care for the elderly to help them stay in their homes and extra cash to tackle underage drinking.

The Tories had pledged to make dramatic cuts in council public relations and marketing, slash council senior management and a massively increase the amount of consultation carried out by the authority.

Their other plans included “reducing the cost of politics” by cutting councillors’ allowances and reducing free food for both councillors and officers, as well as seeking to make savings on council procurement.

Lib-Dem leader Simon Holbrook said the council had to “make difficult decisions to bring spending under control and improve efficiency”.

He added: “The benefits of these measures are now being felt. The remarkable thing about this budget is not that the council tax rise is only 1.67%, it is we are able to invest in these wonderful schemes and still keep council tax so low.”