NEARLY 4,000 people across the county signed a letter organised by the Somerset Council Conservative opposition group calling for the Liberal Democrat administration to give the public a say on any proposed council tax increase above a 4.99 per cent referendum limit.

It was more than two-and-a-half times the number who took part in a survey on the council’s budget which the authority said showed two-thirds of people were happy to pay more council tax.

Group leader Cllr Diogo Rodrigues organised the protest before the Government eventually blocked a bid by the council to impose an 11 per cent rise this year which would have added £200 to many household bills.

The council had for a third consecutive year asked Government for ‘exceptional financial support’ for 2026-27 which would have allowed it to by-pass the usual referendum rules.

Cllr Rodrigues said: “Over 3,700 people across Somerset signed our letter calling on the administration to give residents a say on any council tax increase above 4.99 per cent.

“The people of Somerset have fired a clear warning shot at this administration, get your house in order before you come after theirs.”

Cllr Rodrigues welcomed the Government decision as relief for households already facing significant cost pressures.

He said: “The Government’s decision to block this request gives hard-working Somerset families and pensioners some breathing space, for now.”

The Government refusal left the council facing a £33 million funding gap as it prepares to set a budget on March 4.

Cllr Rodrigues said if the unitary council genuinely believed a higher rise was necessary, it should have been prepared to put the question directly to residents rather than going to Government.

He said: “Decisions of this scale should not be passed upwards in the hope somebody else will take responsibility.”