A council chief has hit out at mindless vandals in his budget speech. Brian Hall, leader of Stevenage Borough Council, has promised hundreds of thousands of pounds in his budget to prevent future attacks on play centres, community buildings and playground

A council chief has hit out at mindless vandals in his budget speech.

Brian Hall, leader of Stevenage Borough Council, has promised hundreds of thousands of pounds in his budget to prevent future attacks on play centres, community buildings and playgrounds.

The council has increased its share of the council tax by 2.5 per cent.

The council tax bill for 2006/07 for a Band D council taxpayer in Stevenage will be £1,279.30 and for a Band C council taxpayer it will be £1,137.15.

Cllr Hall said: "I know that council tax is a burden for everyone, especially young families and older people, but the one consolation I can give is that Stevenage still has the lowest average council tax in Hertfordshire.

"The county council and the police authority receive the vast bulk of the revenue raised by the council tax. Between them they receive 87 per cent of the total."

As a local authority, the borough council only retains 13 pence in each pound.

Cllr Hall said: "We do an awful lot for the people of Stevenage out of this money."

This year £88,000 will be spent on the town centre toilets, £30,000 on Fairlands Valley paddling pools and more than £10,000 on CCTV cameras.