FURTHER council tax rises or cuts to services will be the two options faced by Swindon Council if the Government doesn't provide additional funding.

That's the warning from the Local Government Association, which has sent a letter to deputy prime minister John Prescott claiming that nationally there is an £800m funding gap.

It says that failure to get extra cash may mean councils across the country could be forced to raise taxes by an average of 12 per cent in order to maintain essential services.

Swindon Council will find out in the next couple of weeks how much it has been allocated in the revenue support grant from the Government. The level of grant determines how much council tax the borough needs to raise from ratepayers.

The budget strategy task group has predicted a council tax rise of five per cent when the budget is set in February.

Deputy council leader Ian Dobie (Con, Haydon Wick) says it is impossible to predict if council tax will be higher than this until the grant from central Government is announced.

He said: "If you look across the whole country, just about every local authority has increased its council tax year on year well above the rate of inflation.

"That means we can't all be getting it wrong. The pressures on local authorities have increased.

"In Swindon we set up the budget strategy task group to look at every single aspect of spending. We will do our level best to avoid cuts to services.

"If it is a case of a small rise above what we would like, for example six per cent, then that may be acceptable but if it would be pushing into 15 per cent then that is another decision."

He added that the public will be consulted if the funding from the Government falls short of what is expected.

Last year funding from central government was around £180m, which accounted for 67 per cent of the council's total expenditure. The remaining is funded by council tax.

Coun Dobie claims the burden shouldered by the taxpayer has increased because in 1997, 73 per cent of council expenditure was met by the Government.

Taxpayers have faced a council tax rise of 15 per cent for two years in a row which means this year for the first time a Band D property owner has faced a bill of more than £1,000 a year.

A spokeswoman from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said: "We have not announced the local government finance settlement yet so it is too early to comment."

l Pensioner rights campaigner Frank Avenell, 82, says he will refuse to pay council tax if it is raised too much.

The secretary of Swindon Fairness for Pensioners, said: "The office for the deputy prime minister said that there is no need for these large increases in council tax.

"My feeling is that to a large extent the large increases in council tax are down to the wasteful expenditure of Swindon Council.

"A five per cent rise would be acceptable but another 12 or 15 per cent, I would point blank refuse to pay and face the consequences."

Bhavani Vadde