CONSERVATIVES at County Hall have come up with a budget which they say will slash council tax rises and cut jobs at County Hall.

Lancashire's controlling Labour group has warned that council tax demands will rocket by 8.5 per cent next year.

And the authority is also bracing itself for £12 million worth of cuts from its budget.

Blackburn with Darwen residents will not be affected by the increases but the rest of East Lancashire will see huge rises in bills.

The Tory group has put together a package which would mean a council tax increase of 4.2 per cent. But the smaller tax bills would mean budget cuts of more than £20 million during the next financial year.

Tories believe savings should be made in the Youth and Community Service and in the grants paid to Enterprise plc.

The opposition also recommends that jobs are cut in the education and environment directorates.

Conservative finance spokesman Michael Welsh said: "Budgets reflect priorities and ours are firstly to provide a proper education for our children in well-maintained buildings and to secondly ensure that the county's roads are in a fit state throughout the year.

"By contrast, Labour is cutting these vital services and still putting up council tax by almost twice the Government's stated target."

Conservative leader Robert Hodge added: "Labour have made it clear they they have no intention of restraining expenditure or taking necessary steps to make the county's services cost effective.

"This is bad news for Lancashire Council tax payers who now face a sharp rise in their bills and cuts in core services while Labour continue to squander scarce resource on a bloated central establishment and fancy projects which may make headlines but do precious little to improve the local economy."

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