Council tax in Newmarket and Haverhill could rise

It's after the local authority lost over £50,000 to cyber scammers.

West Suffolk Council is responsible for Newmarket, Haverhill, Mildenhall, Brandon, Clare and Bury St Edmunds.

Last week, it was revealed it had fallen victim to mandate fraud, losing a total of just under £52,000.

This is a complex scam where fraudsters hack into suppliers’ emails and send genuine emails to customers, including the council, asking for a payment.

Councillor Diane Hind, cabinet member for resources:

"Although we did catch the fraud and stopped further funds going out, unfortunately, this was after payment had been made.

"We have been in contact with the company whose security was breached and the email supplier as well as strengthening and re-enforcing our own practices.

"This is a prevalent crime that is very hard to solve and prosecute and we would want to see much more focus nationally on this."

Now, it's also been revealed the missing £52,000 could be equivalent to a 0.5 per cent increase in council tax for the next financial year.

This comes at a time when preparations for next year’s budget are well under way, with more information expected on how measures, such as the cancellation of the Western Way project, will play out when balancing the books.

Assurances were also given that measures had been put in place to prevent any further fraud events from happening in the future.