HOUSEHOLDERS are being given more time to have their say about the how the council spends money on services next year.

Last year residents across the borough were asked for their opinion on the council budget immediately after a budget roadshow presentation at area board meetings.

But town hall bosses decided that the material presented at the roadshows was a source of information overload for many residents.

Now, people will be asked to consider issues such as which services are most important to them, ahead of area board meetings in January, where consultations will take place.

Mr Mike Owen, Bury Council's chief finance officer, introduced the idea at a meeting of Bury West area board.

He said: "The idea will be to do something much more interactive.

"We will be asking people to say in quite broad terms what they want from their council in terms of what services they want."