THE county council's proposed increase in council tax and cuts shows there is "no end in sight for austerity" in Worcestershire, the leader of the council's Labour group has said.

Labour said the £23 million of cuts proposed for next year and the almost four per cent increase in council tax for households across the county announced last week show "more of the same" despite promises by Prime Minister Theresa May that austerity was coming to an end.

Councillor Robin Lunn, leader of the county council's Labour group, said the problems have been caused by the government's incompetence over funding adult social care sufficiently and said it needs to take the problem seriously.

He said: "While austerity continues to reign, we all suffer. It is time to end this emasculation of council's and for the Conservative government to finally fund adult social care properly.

"When is the government going to take this matter seriously and realise that it is a long term issue which is not going to go away?"

Cllr Lunn said the county’s problems would be further exasperated by the £9.4 million cut from the government's contribution to the council.

He said it was not surprising "the spectre of Northamptonshire" continues to loom over county councils with authorities taking the “unsustainable” move of using reserves to plug financial gaps.

Labour said it would return after Christmas with its own set of proposals in time for the council's budget meeting in February.

Cllr Lunn said Labour would end the library consultation and secure the future of all the libraries in Worcestershire and scrap plans to introduce parking charges at Worcester Woods.