Vulnerable people could face huge cuts in services after Tories won an eleventh hour bid to shave 17p a week off the rise in council taxes.

That was the fear of Labour and Lib Dem councillors, shocked at the outcome of Essex County Council's budget fixing meeting.

They originally proposed a council tax precept of £657.09 for Band D properties in 2000/2001, an increase of 9.8 per cent - £1.13 per week.

However, the Tories proposed an amendment, with a precept of £648 instead - a rise instead of 8.3 per cent.

Their amendment also included cutting the budget by:

assuming inflation would rise by 2.5 per cent instead of three per cent

imposing a cap reduction of salaries and wages.

reducing the allocation of money to the balances.

With the political balance in the council chamber on a knife-edge, the result depended on the votes of independent councillors.

In the end the Tory amendment was carried by 39 votes to 38. Now individual committees must work out how to meet the lower budget.

During the two-hour debate Lib Dem councillor Pat Pascoe (Colchester, Maypole) launched an impassioned appeal to independent councillors to back the original Labour/Lib Dem budget proposal.

She said: "I'm not here fighting for my life, but I'm fighting for the lives of some of the vulnerable people of Essex. This will mean cuts in social services which already has some of the most underpaid staff in the county and is desperately short of care workers.

"Are we suggesting their pay should be cut in order to reduce the council tax increase by 17p a week?"

In proposing the Labour/Lib Dem budget plan, leader of the council, Labour councillor Mervyn Juliff (Harlow, Great Parndon) said: "We invest in children. The opposition invest in roads."

After the meeting he said: "We are saddened that they are cutting £9 million from social services for 17p a week off council tax. As it seems they're not going to make the cuts in highways, social services face even bigger cuts."

Labour councillor Tony Wright (Basildon, Gloucester Park), said: "Unfortunately this budget comes in a year when education is taking the bulk of what people are going to be spending.

"All parties agree on that, but social services was then facing big cuts. We were trying to reduce the amount of those cuts by putting up council tax.

"There is now speculation of a showdown at next Tuesday's county council meeting."

Second lowest tax rate in Essex

Taxpayers in Southend will pay the second lowest council tax bill in Essex.

The budget for next year was recommended by Southend Council's cabinet last night, with Lib Dem chairman David Elf pointing out that if the bills from the fire and police authorities were taken out of the equation the increase will be just five per cent.

David Andrews, borough treasurer, said the charge from the fire authority - which has to be taken into consideration alongside the police authority's bill and the council's own budget needs - was 18 per cent higher than its spending assessment, meaning an additional £712,000 cost to council taxpayers.

Mr Elf said: "With regard to band D homes the people of Southend will be paying less than all but one of the local authorities in Essex. Only Thurrock is lower. This is a very good achievement.

We have tried to maintain services as well as improve our services to the public."

Nigel Baker (Lib Dem, Prittlewell) noted that while many may feel this was a large increase, those who live in separate boroughs but in the same street - such as those bordering Castle Point - would end up getting a council tax bill £100 lower than their neighbours.

Council officers also informed the cabinet that the budget reserves at the end of next year would be around £14 million.

At a cabinet meeting on February 1 Southend's councillors recommended the broad funding details for the next financial year which include:

Spending more than £83 million on education and library services with a £3.42 million increase to primary and secondary school budgets

Freezing off-street parking charges at 1999 to 2000 levels but increasing charges at parking meters from 20p for 20 minutes to 20p for 15 minutes and on-street ticket machines from 30p for 30 minutes to 40p for 30 minutes;

A £1 million overspend in social services will be paid for by one per cent cuts to other services.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.