Local government minister Hilary Armstrong will tell Oxfordshire County Council later this month whether she will intervene to stop big increases in council tax next year. the council's chief executive, treasurer and the leaders of the main parties to Whitehall to explain why Oxfordshire's council tax has risen by 8.4 per cent.

In a letter to the former council chairman, Harry Wyatt, the minister said: "I believe that, on the face of it, your authority has set what may be excessive increases."

The council tax rise of 8.4 per cent was 0.4 per cent above the Government threshold.