RESIDENTS have suggested ways their council could make drastic savings.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council needs to make cuts in next year's budget because the Government will not provide full funding for a new concessionary bus scheme.

Redundancies, removal of the mayor's office and an end to twinning money are among the options under discussion by councillors.

But residents have reacted angrily to these ideas, coming up with their own alternatives. Catherine Irving, chairman of Weymouth and Portland's Louviers Society, said: "I am horrified by the cutbacks being considered.

"I would far rather have toilets, gardens and environmental health than a free bus pass to every part of the country.

"Our borough has been twinned with Louviers in France for almost 50 years and with Holtzwickede in Germany for more than 25 years.

"The annual cost of this to the borough is £2,000 - a very cheap price for the continuation of entente cordiale, publicity and friendship which is generated by our mayors."

Suggestions sent to the Dorset Echo so far have included more effort to collect unpaid council tax, a local tax on booze and takeaway food, slashed councillor and mayor expenses, performance-related pay for council staff, a charge to use the town bridge and relocation of council offices to a cheaper site.

Councillor Nigel Reed, council spokesman for finanace and assets, said: "We welcome residents' interest in this process and would encourage people to speak directly to their ward councillor if they have any suggestions or questions.

"We currently collect more than 97 per cent of council tax and 99 per cent of business rates and have recently joined forces with the West Dorset revenues team to help improve our performance in this area even further."

  • An Echo article on Wednesday stated that IT redundancies at the council could save up to £68,000 per post. We have been asked to point out that this figure refers to an area of IT work that employs two staff. No single IT post costs £68,000.