A PAY increase of £150 a year for district councillors in West Oxfordshire will be voted on this afternoon.

Councillors will be asked to increase their basic allowance from £4,350 a year to £4,500 a year, with extra allowances for committee chairmen or cabinet members also set to go up.

This would take the annual cost of allowances to about £361,000, a rise of £11,000.

The change has been recommended by an independent remuneration panel, which said there had been no increase for the past six years.

In a report to councillors chairman Michael Ryan wrote: "This is despite previous panel recommendations that small increases should be accepted."

He added: "Basic allowance for West Oxfordshire [is] falling a little behind the average.

"The panel believes that now is the time to see a small increase."

The meeting of the council will take place today at 2pm, at its buildings in Woodgreen, Witney.

View the agenda here.