The full scale of the latest cuts affecting Shropshire Council services were today laid bare as bosses try to save almost £25 million by 2014.

At least 100 jobs will be axed and dozens of services across Shropshire hit by widespread cuts under plans to save almost £25 million over the next two years.

A crunch meeting to discuss funding the running of leisure centres in parts of Shropshire will take place tomorrow, amid claims some could see their budgets cut by up to 40 per cent.

The cost of weddings, taxi licences and going swimming are all set to rise under new moves proposed by Shropshire Council.

Councillors have been reassured cutting six senior social worker posts at Shropshire Council will not damage levels of care in the county.

Shropshire Council has ‘ignored’ public concerns about the scrapping of kerbside cardboard collections, it was claimed today.

Councillors are being forced to debate a controversial decision to end kerbside cardboard recycling collections in Shropshire after more than 1,000 people signed an e-petition calling for the issue to be revisited.

Hundreds of ramblers will march on Shropshire Council next week to protest against cuts to footpath funding.

A leading Shropshire councillor walked out of a meeting ‘in disgust’ today, claiming that he had been silenced in his efforts to raise issues about the authority’s financial plans, staff morale and the prospect of strike action.

Council chiefs in Shropshire today revealed they will spend £12,000 on new iPads for 40 councillors and some top officers in a new IT pilot scheme.

Shropshire Council is still likely to push through job cuts even if workers accept a 5.4 per cent pay cut this autumn, union leaders claimed today.

Campaigners today urged Shirehall bosses to hold council meetings at night instead of in the day, claiming the current times meant working people were unable to attend.

Headteachers at under-threat schools in Shropshire are today due to meet county education officials for a briefing before their fate is revealed later this week.

The cost of office moves and refurbishments at Shropshire Council’s headquarters, including a new suite for chief executive Kim Ryley, has gone over budget by more than £400,000, it was revealed today.

Shropshire’s schools are losing £15 million over 10 years in Government funding because of falling pupil numbers, a top Shirehall official has claimed.

Shropshire Council still plans to freeze council tax bills for the coming financial year. The move will be confirmed at a meeting of the full authority to be held next Thursday.

Shirehall boss Kim Ryley and other top level managers will escape “pay cuts” facing thousands of Shropshire Council staff, it emerged today.

Almost 200 parents, pupils, governors and staff staged protests at Shirehall today as Shropshire Council leaders met to discuss plans to axe nine schools in the county.

Shropshire Council is recruiting people to four newly created jobs at a cost of up to £370,000 a year, at a time when it is trying to slash £30 million from its budget by axing dozens of projects.

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.

Shirehall leaders have backed a pay freeze for Shropshire Council staff and a series of changes to employment terms and conditions aimed at saving millions of pounds a year.

A campaigner has dug deep into her own pockets to put on a free coach so protesters in a south Shropshire town can get to a crunch meeting on plans for a £5 million incinerator.

Two Shirehall union leaders today warned that Government cuts in Shropshire could leave vulnerable people at the mercy of paedophiles and criminals as checks and balances are eroded.

A Shirehall task group has given vital backing to the Meals on Wheels service in Shropshire with a call for hot meals to continue to be provided to the elderly and other vulnerable people.

Shropshire Council finance chief Laura Rowley has quit her £125,000-a-year job amid a massive shake-up of Shirehall senior management.

Shropshire is “very, very lucky” it has not had its own Baby P case because of growing workload pressure on council staff and funding cuts, it was claimed today.

Free sandwiches are being scrapped before the start of Shropshire Council committee meetings in a bid to save thousands of pounds.

A number of “summits” are to be held to give people the chance to help shape Shropshire Council spending plans. The meetings will be attended by the whole Shirehall cabinet.

Letter: When the Unitary Authority was proposed, many warned of what would happen. More bosses, more managers, more empire building and more remote aloofness of self important councillors.

Civic leaders have criticised Shirehall bosses after it was confirmed a community skip scheme in north and south Shropshire is to be scrapped.