CUTS in education budgets were inevitably going to take their toll at ground level at some point.

Lancashire education bosses were told in January to shave more than £9 million off spending for the next financial year to help stop a massive hike in council tax.

But for one school in East Lancashire, the reality of a shrinking budget has come sooner rather than later.

Belthorn Primary sits on the edge of Hyndburn and looks like any other successful school from the outside, with a playground edged with open fields.

But the former grant-maintained school is under LCC education authority control and has a shortfall of £16,000 for the next financial year.

Translated in real terms that equates to the loss of a member of teaching staff and a cut to the workforce of 20 per cent.

For head teacher Mike Rothwell times are hard and the school is now actively trying to access more funding, sponsorship or donations.

He already uses money from his own role as an Ofsted inspector to plug the gap along with parents' fundraising to pay for school outings and resources.

But working in an undersubscribed school in an area with falling birth rates on one hand and rising employer costs despite shrinking incomings on the other, the schools bank balance is slipping towards the red.

And reserves are running out.

Said Mr Rothwell: "I blame the government, not the Local Education Authority. They are just following orders from above. They have had a bad budget settlement which will directly effect the children. The government talk about education but it just does not stick. It's all spin.

"Cuts and a rise in costs have tipped us over the edge."

The school is at present considering leaving the post of teaching deputy head vacant when Andrea Cappelli leaves for new pastures at the end of term.

At best the school can afford a newly qualified teacher but, according to the head, that is just postponing the cutting of staff.

It also means that despite being on a performance related scheme, the financial incentives for the managerial team for hitting targets have also dried up.

He added: "The teachers are clearly not happy about the situation and the governors are still agonising about what to do.

"They will end up sharing out another teacher's workload and having less time with each child. It is also not really fair to be on a performance related scheme but no bonus for hitting targets -- we simply cannot afford it."

Funding for any LCC-run school is based on numbers with £1,500 per year for a junior and £1,700 for reception.

Ironically the school, which has 150 children aged between 4 to 11, lies yards from the boundary with Blackburn with Darwen Council, where there is the chance to be part of an Education Action Zone and access more funding.

Indeed 49 per cent of the school's intake comes from deprived wards in Blackburn.

According to council education chiefs the money is not a cut but rather a shift -- a return to normal levels after years of "double funding".

Lancashire County Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, County Councillor Alan Whittaker, said: "Belthorn Primary School received some double-funding in the past which we have been phasing out.

"During this transitional phase the school has had some cash protection funding to assist it in making any necessary adjustments."