THE amount of money collected by Ludlow Town Council from council tax payers has almost doubled over the past five years.

During the current financial year the income from the precept was £625,000 which compares with £335,000 in the 2016-16 financial year.

Ludlow Town Council gets its money from two main sources.

These are the precept which forms part of the Council Tax bill. Council tax also includes money for Shropshire Council and the police and fire services.

The second major source of income is from the rents paid by market traders.

However, as councillor get ready to prepare their budget for 2021-22 they will have to decide what to do to address a major loss of income as a consequence of Covid-19 with the market being closed for an extended period and operating with a smaller number of traders when it started again.

There is no cap on the increases that small council’s like Ludlow can impose. Other options include cutting services and taking money from reserves.