Powys County Council's crunch budget meeting is declared all-ticket to the public

Tickets for tomorrow's Powys County Council's budget meeting at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells will be made available on the day on a first-come-first-served basis.

About 30 seats will be available in the main council chamber, while a further 77 will be set up in overflow rooms where proceedings will be broadcast live.

Protestors are expected to descend on County Hall in large numbers for the meeting after proposals including cuts in education and money provided to the Citizens Advice Bureau provoked anger across Mid Wales.

The council's blueprint for making the savings is expected to be ratified at tomorrow's meeting and the level of council tax will also be set.

Councillor Barry Thomas, leader of Powys County Council, said: "This year's budget has been one of the hardest ever for the council with a significant cut in funding, ever increasing service pressures resulting in the need for a £20 million reduction in spending.

"Reducing our spending by such an amount was never going to be easy and our budget proposals were always likely to attract some criticism. But, we have to balance the needs of providing statutory services such as education and social care, alongside those that are socially desirable while taking into account the county's ability to pay.

"We know our budget plans and the changes proposed will be of considerable interest to residents. To allow as many people to see and hear the debate as possible we are broadcasting proceedings live on the internet.

"We also expect residents will attend County Hall and are doing all that we can to accommodate as many people as possible but space is limited and numbers will be restricted."

The webcast will be accessible for residents by going to www.powys.public-i.tv or by clicking on a link from the front page of the county council's website.

As part of the meeting there is a recommendation of a council tax increase of 3.95 per cent.

The meeting will start at 10.30am.