THE total council tax bill for each parish in Swindon has now been revealed with massive variations in different areas of the town.

Swindon Council has set a council tax rise of three per cent.

This increase means the local authority's portion of the council tax bill, for an average Band D house, will rise by £28 to £969.62p.

On top of this, town and parish councils in the borough have put in their requests for cash known as precepts to cover the costs of services in the area.

Chiseldon set the biggest increase, asking for £50,400 in 2005-06 compared to £34,447 in 2004-05 a rise of 46.3 per cent.

Parish council clerk Jane Morgan said money would be used to improve road safety and provide better bus shelters.

She said: "We sent out a questionnaire and these things came out top so we decided to include them in our precept. Hopefully, it will improve the quality of life for residents. We invited parishioners to a meeting before the precept was set but only one turned up. It was disappointing."

Stratton St Margaret had the second largest increase in precept for 2005-06.

Parish council clerk Bob Blake said £737,850 was now needed compared to £535,180 in 2004-05 a rise of 37.9 per cent. Owners of Band D properties in the area pay £1,224.23.

"We are the second largest parish council in England so we should not be compared Wroughton and Highworth but with Wootton Bassett and Chippenham," he said.

"We are a best value council which means we have a precept in excess of £500,000. We think the increase is justifiable as it offers good value and quality services."

There are 21,500 residents in the area who have access to two community centres which receive no funding from Swindon Council.

Money is needed for a range of services in the area including 12 recreation areas, two cemeteries and two allotments.

Meanwhile, areas like Covingham have seen no increase in the precept and the council tax bill for a Band D property is £1,160.04.

Parish council clerk Glyn Harris said: "There was no necessity to change this year or last year. We've kept on top of a lot of work which has also helped make savings."

The other area which saw no change was Castle Eaton and there was only a 3.3 per cent increase in Highworth.