COUNCIL tax could rocket by 10 per cent - unless savage cuts are made, the World can exclusively reveal.

Council figures show an increase of at least nine per cent is needed - just to maintain the current level of services.

That would be around £65 a year more for a band B property.

Tory councillors said any rise of five per cent or more would be 'outrageous'.

Conservative leader Cllr Carl Cross said: "We are investigating council spending and are hoping to put forward our own budget to see where savings can be made."

He added: "Inflation is at two, two-and-a-half per cent, so rises two or even three times that would be outrageous.

"The root cause of this is the Labour government. They are shifting the burden on to local councils and local council taxpayers.

"And this is the impact of having a Labour council and a Labour Government."

Lid Dem leader Cllr Mike Hodgkinson said: "Pensioners and people like that are only getting two per cent so it shouldn't be much more than that.

"We think too much money is being given to partnership groups and the board overseeing them haven't got any opposition members - it's taxation without representation.

"A disability board has been set up and that partnership is getting £8m. We think boards like this are too much under the sway of special interest groups and not elected councillors."

Council leader Tony McDermott said: "We have got to make savings and we will be working hard to achieve that.

"The Government is asking for single figures and certainly five per cent is the touchstone figure.

"But it's early days and we have got to balance the needs of the services and the pockets of the tax payers."

He added: "The Labour Government has put more into local councils than ever was the case with the previous Government."

Halton has low council tax overall - the third lowest in the north west - but a falling population means less money is becoming available from the Government. Council tax went up by 5.9 per cent last year.