COUNCIL finance chiefs have issued a public challenge: Accept cuts in services or tell us you will pay more tax.

A "standstill" council tax rise of five per cent is on the cards, and that will mean a spending shortfall of £2.1 million.

But for every extra one per cent the public are prepared to pay the council can spend another £630,000 on securing jobs and keeping services going.

They have been spelling out the harsh financial facts of life to public meetings at a series of borough-wide budget roadshows. At one of them an angry woman warned that councillors faced a backlash from pensioners.

Mrs Dot Bingham told Whitefield Area Board: "In Devon there has been a revolt and to avoid a revolt here the council must change the way that we pay our council tax. You can not expect pensioners on fixed incomes to keep paying an extra five per cent."

Director of finance and e-government, Mr Mike Owen, told one of the first area board meetings in Prestwich on Monday night: "Some of you will think that it is our job, not yours, to balance the budget, but we welcome your views on where you think we should make savings or how much the council tax should be increased."

If the council adopted its initial strategy of increasing council tax by five per cent, there would still be a shortfall of £2.1 million which would have to be addressed by either making savings in services or by putting up the council tax by more than five per cent.

Mr Owen said that each additional one per cent increase on the council tax would generate £630,000 extra to spend.

He added that in terms of this year's settlement from the Government it was "good news" for Bury.

Local government spending was on average up by six per cent across the country but, after years of being one of the worst funded authorities, Bury had received a healthy 7.3 per cent increase.

Mr Owen explained: "It is well above the average for the rest of the country and is very good news. But we are still one of the poorest funded metropolitan councils in the country. If we got the same amount of grant per person as Blackburn, we would have another £40 million to spend."

He said central government had assumed the council tax would increase by no more than five per cent this year, including Police and Fire precepts (up by 7.5 per cent), but to match the Government grant issued, Bury would have to increase council tax by 7.3 per cent.

He invited residents to have their say on what should be done by contacting him at the town hall on 253 5002 or emailing budget2004@bury.gov.uk

Decisions about the council tax will be made by members at the executive committee on Wednesday February 18 and at a special council meeting onWednesday February 25.