THE money residents will have to shell out for services like street-cleaning, the upkeep of parks and councillors' expenses in Kirkby Stephen next year will be "less than the price of a night out".

The town's 2006/07 precept has been fixed at the same figure as last year despite bigger wage bills and more money being earmarked for grants.

After cutting back on Christmas funding and shaving pounds off costs incurred through council business, members of Kirkby Stephen Town Council have calculated their share of the council tax bill to be just pounds short of £47,000 the same figure that was set for 2005/06.

The latest sums mean the average Band D householder will continue to pay around £72 per year (or £1.38 a week). The figure equates to just over £26 for each person in the town which councillors praised as being "less than a night out".

Coun Shiela Haughey told members she thought the figure represented "good value for money".

"People have said to me that they cannot believe that we deliver the service we do, on the money we get," she said.

Split into eight areas of spending, the biggest portion of the £46,994 total will pay for the town council's admin-istration costs (£17,800) including printing the quarterly newsletter, travel, training and a £12,500 for salaries.

In a bid to clean up the town, which has a population of 1,800, the street cleaning bill is set to increase by £1,500 next year with more money being put to one side for wages and to fund a Silver Street Garden tidy-up.

In addition, members agreed to put almost £2,000 extra in the open spaces' pot (£8,318 compared to £6,450 in 05/06) to help with the maintenance of parks, seating and grass-cutting.

Coun Joan Johnstone commented: "If we don't do these things to tidy up the town, we will just get constant complaints."

So far this year, Kirkby Stephen's Plusbus scheme has benefited from a £2,200 share of the 2005/06 precept while more money has been allocated to the town's burial sites and given to the Appleby-based Great North Air Ambulance. In 2006/07 a £4,450 pot will be set aside for grants and donations, providing a boost to community-led projects.