IN an amazing turnaround, Southampton residents could now be facing around a six per cent rise in their council tax bills next year.

It now means that plans to close city football pitches and cut the opening hours of a swimming pool will be shelved, although the controversial closure of St Mary's leisure centre will still go ahead.

The rise comes despite fears of a 14.4 per cent hike only a few months ago.

But council chiefs have now revised their sums to come up with the substantially lower figure.

A government windfall of £1m following outcry from the public about unfair tax rises has helped soften the blow.

And for the first time, the council doesn't have to subsidise the fire authority this year - helping them to save in the region of £5m which is normally put aside for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Residents could now see only a 2.9 per cent rise on what they pay specifically for council services across the city - but they can expect a total increase in their bills of around six per cent, after what they have to pay towards the county's police and fire services is added on.

However, it's still dramatically less than last year when Southampton residents were faced with a staggering 18.6 per cent increase in their bills.

If this budget is agreed, the bill for an average Band D property will increase from £987.78 to £1047.05 - an increase of £59.27.

The new prediction, which won't be confirmed until February 18, matches that of neighbouring Hampshire County Council, which is expecting a 6.1 per cent rise in bills from April.

The revised sums mean five football pitches across Southampton that were facing the axe in a bid to save £58,000 a year will now be saved.

The Daily Echo launched a campaign to save the pitches at Riverside Ground in Bitterne Park and the Veracity Ground in Sholing and thousands of people signed our petition to keep them open.

As reported in Friday's Daily Echo, plans to save cash by slashing the opening hours of Oaklands Swimming Pool in Lordshill, have also been scrapped after almost 80 people protested at a public meeting.

Other savings will be made by combining the city's mobile library and book bus into one vehicle, which will save £65,000 a year, increasing land charges fees which will net an extra £96,000, and raising daytime parking charges in Southampton for the first time in four years, saving £158,000.

The news also comes just one week after city council bosses did a U-turn on their plans to introduce night-time car parking charges across Southampton which sparked fears that evening trade would fall.

But the controversial plan to close St Mary's Sports Hall remains, saving the council £400,000. Football pitches at Mansel Park, which are currently closed but users hoped would be reopened, will stay shut.

Liberal Democrat council leader councillor Adrian Vinson:

Councillor Vinson said there were several reasons that led to the dramatic drop in the council tax rise.

He said the early suggestions in November last year of a 14 per cent hike in taxes included a subsidy for the fire authority.

That figure was expected to be around £5.5m, but the government later announced that the fire authority, for the first time, would become a precepting authority in its own right, just like the police.

He said the figure was a worst case scenario and also took into account if the government did not hand out any cash.

Cllr Vinson added that the newly calculated increase, which will total around six per cent was "partly the result of government concessions due to public concern over tax levels, but also the result of a rigorous exercise within the council to identify savings and eliminate non-essential spending.

He said: "We are determined to give people value for money. I'm very pleased our proposals include nearly £450,000 additional funding to tackle anti-social behaviour, and we're also proposing to use the council's new borrowing powers to spend £18.5 million over the next five years to tackle the appalling state of the city's neglected roads, pavements and street lighting.

"Both of these are priorities for local people, shown both through our consultations and MORI polls, and we're determined to start putting things right.

"We are determined to give local taxpayers a fair deal after the excessive increases of recent years. However, to achieve an increase around the rate of inflation in the current financial climate inevitably involves some tough decisions on spending."

Labour group leader Councillor June Bridle:

"If you look at how the Labour government has helped councils, particularly those in the south, it is inevitable that there would be the need for only a small rise.

"Some of the ideas that are in their proposed budget are very good and we would be more than happy to support them, but we are very concerned about some of the other things also in there."

She said that in particular, issues like not having a weekly waste collection and cuts to library services were most concerning.

She added: "This is the first time for a long while that the council can say we have more money to spend, which is why it is very disappointing that some services are being cut.

"While I'm very pleased that the pitches in Bitterne and Sholing have been saved, I'm also disappointed that the Mansel Park pitches in the west of the city won't be returned to service."

Conservative group deputy leader Councillor Royston Smith:

"The only reason the council tax is going to be as low as it is, is because we are no longer giving the fire authority the £5m we normally give.

"When the 14.4 per cent figure was released last November it was just scaremongering.

"The leader of the council knew full well that the fire authority was becoming its own precepting authority, so why did he rush to say that the council tax rise was looking to be 14.4 per cent?

"He knew that he would be coming back with a new and considerably lower figure. What he did was just headline grabbing.

"I am not surprised that they withdrew the planned night-time parking charges and I knew they would go back on plans to scrap the football pitches.

"Yes, this is good news for the taxpayer, but not as good as it could be. There is no reason why the taxpayer should be facing any increase at all this year."