ANDOVER residents could be forced to pay even higher council tax bills from April because of new methods of calculating the special Andover levy, say Liberal Democrats.

At present taxpayers pay a special levy to cover services provided in the town by the borough council which are provided by parish councils in other parts of Test Valley.

The money is used to pay for facilities such as the London Road sports ground, parks, the cemetery, 30 play area and the allotments.

Some of the money spent on the facilities comes from the central capital budget but anything under £15,000 is included in the bill for town taxpayers. The effect of the reassessment will be to increase the amount a band D chargepayer will be asked to pay from £18.27 to £24.10 - although part of the increase will be mitigated by a corresponding small cut in the amount the borough asks from everyone.

The net effect of the change will be about £4 extra for every band D house in Andover.

The change adds weight to the call for Andover to have its own town council which should oversee how the money is spent, says Lib Dem leader Robin Hughes.

"If Andover had a town council then people from Andover would decide how the money was spent rather than people from Romsey or Stockbridge."