SOUTHAMPTON'S ruling Liberal Democrat Cabinet formally endorsed their budget plans on Monday.

Cabinet members rubber-stamped proposals which could see council tax rise by almost five per cent in April.

The planned 4.89 per cent rise would mean the cost of council tax on an average Band D property would rise from £1,016.77 to £1,066.52.

Any increase will have to be agreed by city chiefs at the council's crunch budget setting meeting which is due to be staged next Wednesday. The rise would not take into account the amount charged for Hampshire's fire and police services, which are charged separately.

Among the controversial proposals being looked at by city bosses are plans to charge commuters using the free district car parks in Shirley, Bitterne, Swaythling and Woolston.

City bosses are planning to charge drivers £5 to park if they stay for more than five hours in a bid to cut down the number of motorists using them as informal park-and-rides.

Controversial proposals to increase off-street car parking charges by five per cent are also on the table, as are plans to force drivers to pay for parking in city car parks until 6.30pm - an hour longer than at present.

At the moment, typical city centre car parks charge between 40p and 80p an hour, rising to £12 for more than seven hours at The Mall Marlands shopping centre.

If the rises went ahead, parking charges would increase by about ten pence for two hours at car parks such as College Street and Compton Street. Charges for a seven-hour stay at the Marlands would rise by 60p.

City council leader Councillor Adrian Vinson told Cabinet members that in an "ideal world" they would be recommending no council tax increases and improvements in services.

However, he said: "We don't live in an ideal world, we live in a real world where the options before us are more constrained. I believe that with a council tax increase of 4.89 per cent - one of the lowest recommended for many years - this is a responsible budget."