TOWN HALL chiefs in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin were today counting the cost of massive budget reductions set to leave them millions of pounds out of pocket.

Telford & Wrekin Council today said it was now facing cuts of about £17 million over the next two years, £12 million of which will fall next year.

The council said overall it faced £25 million worth of cuts over the next four years.

The handout to the authority is £84 million, compared to £101 million last year.

Finance bosses at Shropshire Council are still going over the figuresbut Community Secretary Eric Pickles, who announced the biggest cuts to council budgets in recent times, has warned local authorities to expect cuts of up to 8.9 per cent.

But Mr Pickles said the average local authority grant reduction across the country would be 4.4 per cent.

Elsewhere the county fared no better, with transport, police and schools funding all feeling the force of the Government’s drive to cut spending.

The county is to get £18.8 million for transport in 2011/12 – down from £23.6 million in 2010/11.

West Mercia Police’s “core” Government funding will be slashed by 11.8 per cent over the next two years and schools across Shropshire will not see their budgets rise over the next four years. Dyfed-Powys Police, meanwhile, said up to 350 jobs would be lost after its budget over the next two years was slashed by more than £7 million.

The force’s police authority warned job losses would include a “significant reduction” in bobbies on the beat.

Both Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council have already taken steps to reduce their spending.

Councillor Andrew Eade, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said it would take some time to analyse the figures and what any potential impact on services would be.

He said: “We have been preparing for this for some time on the basis of the limited information available nationally and that work includes an extensive programme of re-structuring services now under way but the level and timing of the most significant government cuts in decades will only now become clear.

“This leaves all councils very little time in which to plan their budgets for next year and consult locally on proposed spending cuts while looking to protect key services where this is still possible.”