Council tax bills could rise by as much as £100 in parts of Essex, it has been warned.

Leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningfield, fears the Government could cut its £800m grant to the authority by as much as £62m.

It is rumoured John Prescott, who is due to allocate the cash on December 2, will favour councils in the north of England over those in the south.

Tory Lord Hanningfield, has called for co-operation from all three political parties to deal with the potential crisis faced by the council.

He said: "I am extremely concerned about the advice I have received about expected cuts by the Government to Essex services next year.

"This would be a blatant and unwarranted attack on Essex, aimed at releasing cash to support Labour-run councils in the north of England.

"We could see a budget shortfall of £62m which would be catastrophic - it is equivalent to us losing the budget for public transport and highways, or three times the amount we spend on keeping library services going."

The Government is expected to abolish the area cost adjustment, which helps councils in the south east meet the higher costs they face.

To compensate, this could force a council tax increase in Essex of £100 on the average band D property.

Council tax bills are mostly made up of cash for county council services, topped up with charges for district council services and police and the fire service.

Billericay Tory MP

Teresa Gorman , has responded angrily to the news.

She said: "Labour plans to subsidise inefficient Labour-run councils in the north of England - some of which are facing corruption charges.

"My constituents and all people across Essex will be forced to pay for Labour's plans.

"Schools, old people and families in Essex face cuts to all services and a massive council tax increase averaging £100 per household."

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