VITAL funding for a hot meals on wheels' service, two popular tourist attractions and five libraries looks likely to be halted as part of budget cuts.

The £69,000 paid each year for the upkeep of 15th century Tudor home Turton Tower is expected to be withdrawn by cash-strapped county councillors by 2008.

And members of Lancashire County Council's cabinet said yesterday that they wanted to push ahead with the closure of five East Lancashire libraries.

They also want to withdraw more than £140,000 of annual funding for 17th century manor house Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, during the next financial year.

But the proposal to give pensioners frozen meals instead of the service currently run by Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) volunteers has created such anger that it was raised in Parliament by Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle.

Mr Hoyle asked Leader of the Commons Geoff Hoon for a special debate on "Lancashire County Council's disgraceful proposals" which he claimed could cost elderly people's lives.

Mr Hoon said he would alert ministers to the MP's concerns and suggested he look at other ways of raising the issue in Parliament.

Mr Hoyle said: "The total saving we are talking about is less then £800,000 a year.

"It would require elderly people, who now get a hot meal and a chat, to put the meals in the freezer and heat them up in a microwave or oven."

"I understand that Blackburn with Darwen Council are not going to pursue this plan, so we could have the ludicrous situation of pensioners at one end of a street in Lancashire getting several days worth of frozen meals to heat up while their counterparts in the all-purpose independent borough getting the same daily hot meal service they have been denied.'' Coun Chris Cheetham, portfolio holder for adult and community services, said: "The replacement meals would provide the same nutritional value as the current meals and it may well be that the people who supply the meals now are reheating frozen meals anyway."

Coun Cheetham confirmed that he had spoken to the trustees of Turton Tower and had received 17 letters objecting to the possible withdrawal of funding.

He said: "The proposal for Turton Tower does not have an immediate impact but we are giving notice that we will cease to maintain the museum service in two years.

"It is a decision of a cash-strapped county council which cannot continue to provide some services and keep the increases of council tax to a bearable level."

He said the county council would get involved in discussions over the future of the buildings affected by the library closures or help with the continuation of a library service if a borough council chose to support it instead.

The libraries expected to close are Wheatley Lane at Fence, Church, Eaves Lane at Chorley, Waterfoot and Ightenhill, Burnley.

Cabinet members agreed that council tax bills should not be allowed to rise by more than five per cent.

A final decision on the proposed cutbacks will be made by the full council on February 16.