BCP Council has agreed its budget for the coming year in a plan that has been described as one of "hope, pride and ambition".

Approval for the Conservative administration's proposal came after a long debate at Tuesday's full council meeting during which the opposition Unity Alliance saw its alternative budget defeated in a vote.

First outlined last month, the newly-backed budget is based on a 1.55 per cent average rise in council tax, a figure BCP Council leader Drew Mellor has claimed is "one of the lowest in the country".

It will be the first year people living in each of the three towns will pay the same rate since the council was formed two years ago. A typical Band D home will be charged £1,541.57 this year.

Bills in Christchurch will be frozen, while there will be 0.76 per cent and 2.99 per cent increases in Bournemouth and Poole respectively to do this.

The Conservatives' budget includes a five-year, £50 million "Futures Fund" which will be used to boost regeneration and pandemic recovery efforts.

And on top of this, £250,000 has been set aside to fund a "Bounce Back festival" of events, aimed at encouraging visitors to the area this summer to support the struggling hospitality sector.

This idea was scrapped in the opposition Unity Alliance's alternative budget, a move which drew widespread criticism from the industry.

Its amendment also proposed increased funding for adult social care through the use of a further one per cent increase to council tax bills and a greater focus on greener regeneration projects.

Putting the plan forward at Tuesday's meeting, the coalition's lead member for finance, councillor Mike Cox, said it prioritised the wellbeing of people living in the area and showed greater commitment to tackling climate change.

But it was defeated in a vote with Conservative councillors saying it "stuck two fingers up" to the hospitality industry.

"This is pick-and-mix budgeting," cabinet member councillor Nicola Greene said. "It doesn't speak to the hardship being faced by our residents and it doesn't speak to the need for jobs."

The Unity Alliance saw its plan defeated in a 41 to 28 vote which saw the majority of the members of its second biggest group, the Christchurch Independents, abstain.

After this, the Conservative administration passed its budget which, its deputy leader said, would be "truly transformative".

"It fundamentally addresses some of the structural financial challenges we have," councillor Phil Broadhead said. "It unleashes some truly impactful sums of money to invest in our future."