THE price of gas and electric for Warrington Borough Council looks set to significantly increase, despite efforts to cut bills.

Warrington Borough Council has put out a number of tenders to try and find the best available prices for its gas and electric but costs look set to increase by up to 34 per cent in some cases

The rise has come about as since early 2004 global energy prices have been continuously increasing at a rate far higher than inflation.

A meeting of the Executive Group of the council met last week where they approved the tenders. As a result of the increases street lighting is now expected to cost £885,000 per year, an increase of 32 per cent.

Speaking at the meeting, Chairman John Joyce said: "This is going to cost us money, the same as anyone else."

British Gas last week announced that residential bills would rise by 14 per cent, blaming rising oil prices and shrinking domestic gas reserves.