A price rise is being introduced at activity centres used by schools and youth groups.

Essex Outdoors, which is managed by Essex County Council, has centres across Essex including Bradwell and Danbury.

A decision has been made by the council to increase the charges for groups using the activity centre.

Prices will rise by 5 per cent after the council chose to adopt the increase which will see it bring in an additional £175,000 each year.

The two other options presented to councillors were for no change in price and for a 3 per cent increase, in line with inflation.

However, neither were deemed to have the potential to bring in enough money.

A report, presented to councillors making the decision, said: “The council do not believe that leaving the fees at the current level is a viable option for Essex Outdoors as this will not enable the service to generate additional contributions to the council.

“A 3 per cent increase will not achieve the targeted increase in income and will only generate an additional £105,000 in 2019/20.

“This doesn’t take into account the increased costs of delivering the service through inflation increases.

“The additional income of a 5 per cent increase will help make Essex Outdoors more financially sustainable and it is anticipated it will generate an additional £175,000 of income in 2019/20.

“Impact in 2018/19 is minimal as the majority of bookings for the year have already been taken, therefore, the increased prices will only impact on new bookings during that period.”

The 5 per cent increase in prices was based on a competitor analysis and considered to be an acceptable increase.

Some prices, such as the fee for camping and sailing, might increase by more than 5 per cent.

The recommendations were agreed by councillor Simon Walsh.

A spokesman for Essex Outdoors said: “Some prices rises for activities are unavoidable.

"Many of our activities and services are unaffected by price increases, and for those which are, we have worked hard to keep the increases as low as possible with the majority being 5 per cent or less.

"For certain activities, such as for outside equipment/venue hire or where we use contractors, increases in the prices our suppliers charge mean we have had no option but to make larger increases.”