Council tax is set to be frozen in Sutton for the third year in a row.

Sutton Council is one of the first in London to say it will freeze its part of bills.

The proposal – that will leave the full-year charge for each Band D home at £1,140.89 – comes despite the council aiming to save £33m over the next few years.

Councillor Sean Brennan, leader of the council, said: “We recognise that this is a challenging time for many Sutton residents and we believe they don’t want us to make it any more difficult now by raising council tax.

“There are some demanding decisions ahead but we felt it was right to listen to what residents have been saying and freeze council tax for the third time in three years.”

The freeze will be discussed at the council’s executive meeting on February 6, ahead of a final decision at full council on March 5, when the council’s budget will be formally set.

A borough-wide residents’ survey was recently carried out, which included a question about budget priorities.

The council said it showed most people wanted to see changes to the way services are delivered rather than service cuts or higher charges, which the council was doing everything it could to try and achieve.

Thirty per cent of those asked also wanted local people to have more control over the money spent in their area.

Coun Brennan said: "There’s no doubt that we are facing some formidable financial challenges.

"This is a one-off grant and there is no indication if any further money will be available next year, so we could have chosen to raise council tax by up to 3.5 per cent to ease the pressure on our budget.

"But thanks to some prudent financial management and some good anticipation of the situation, we are in a better position than many councils.

"And it’s clear that our residents would rather not have an increase so we will be doing everything we can to reduce our costs and avoid waste before we cut any frontline services or raise charges.

"Over the next few months we will be discussing the residents’ survey at our local committees to help us understand how people can be better informed about how the council tax is spent and get more involved in local decision-making."