PEOPLE in Weymouth and Portland are being given their say on council services in one of the largest community consultation exercises in the country.

Council chiefs are looking to the community for feedback as they try and make up a shortfall of £850,000 in next year's budget.

Householders will be asked if they would rather see a hike in their council tax bills, an increase in charges for some council services or a balance between the two.

In the past the council has been able to dip into its savings to make up the shortfall but these have been exhausted.

In an effort to bridge the gap between what it receives in income and what it spends on services the council is involving the residents of Weymouth and Portland for the first time as part of the decision-making process.

All 29,000 households in the borough will receive a questionnaire and residents are being urged to state their views.

Council chief executive Tom Grainger said: "This is a very important exercise. We want to make sure the finances of the council are kept on a very stable basis so we can continue to provide good quality services to people.

"We have a good record of keeping our costs steady but if we're going to make some improvements to local services that we know people want we must bring in some more income and that is why we are consulting."

He added: "I would urge residents to let us know their views because it will make a difference and councillors will take them into account.

"The final decision on the level of council tax and charges will be made in February but important meetings will be held during November when the results of the consultation are known."

The council's information services manager Peter Gilmour said it was up to residents to decide whether the shortfall should be met through an increase in the borough's contribution to the council tax or by asking those who use specific services to meet more of the cost.

These are services where there is discretion such as charging for disabled parking, increasing prices at the swimming pool or charging user groups the full commercial rate for hiring the Pavilion.

Mr Gilmour said it was one of the biggest community consultation exercises of its kind in the country.

He said the council would need at least 700 questionnaires back to make the exercise worthwhile but considering there were 2,500 responses when the council made changes to its management structure, this figure should be easily achieved.