Rate payers in Port St Mary won't be paying any more in the coming year.

The local authority has decided the rate will remain unchanged at 306p in the pound. New responsibilities that have been devolved from the Department of Infrastructure include street cleaning, gulley emptying, and the maintenance of hedges but the commissioners say these will be paid for partly from the government’s freeze on the gate price from tipping at the incinerator and partly from efficiency savings in other areas.

Chairman Bernadette McCabe said: 'We are very pleased to be able to announce that, despite an increasing workload, there will be no increase in the rates levied in the coming year. We have been working hard to reduce our costs throughout this year and it is gratifying to see this rewarded now.

'We could not have achieved this without the active participation of our residents in our recycling initiative. Refuse disposal is our biggest single cost and we are confident that this will reduce by 20 per cent next year.'

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