Economic turmoil has failed to stop Hillingdon Council fulfilling its pledge to scrap tax rises while giving vital services a massive injection of cash.

The budget for the 2009/10 financial year is set to come before a meeting of the council tomorrow evening (Thursday) at the Civic Centre, Uxbridge.

Residents will benefit first and foremost from the zero per cent increase in bills - meaning a family living in an average Band D property will again pay £1,422.75, set last year following a 2.8 per cent rise on the 2007-08 bills.

The Conservative-run council has promised to extend the zero per cent rate for next year's bills too, which it points to as being proof its finances continue to be buoyant at a time when others are struggling to stay afloat.

In total the budget is worth a staggering £277,440,000.

First in line to benefit from investment is a new police tasking team and the creation of a Community Safety Fund of £200,000, which Hillingdon Police will be able to apply to spend on new resources to identify criminals earlier.

Three new youth centres are expected to be open across Hillingdon by the end of the year. Cash totalling £159,000 will be used to pay for the staff to run them, while the amount set aside to fund services for older people is being boosted by £150,000.

Out-of-hours street cleaning is getting £88,000, while the support package created to help residents make it through the current recession is being given £75,000.

There will also be additional help for residents and business with a commitment to freeze many council charges, including service charges for libraries, nurseries, adult education courses, home care and car parks.

The one potential dark cloud is the fight the council is preparing to have with the Government again in order to secure the £3million it says is owed to help care for unaccompanied asylum seekers coming through Heathrow Airport.

However, council leader Councillor Ray Puddifoot said: "This budget shows that we are delivering value for money for our residents through strong financial management.

"Despite all the financial pressures we face, we are also investing significant sums of extra money into the services that residents most want us to focus on, helping us to deliver even better services to local people."