SEVERE cutbacks in services are being threatened by West Devon Borough Council because of a cash crisis.

The council says it needs to find almost £1-million for additional commitments demanded by central government.

These include the new Licensing Act, the Crime and Disorder Bill and high recycling targets.

Now the borough is urging Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford to take action and consider the special circumstances in which West Devon Council operates.

It is warning that if it has to cover the forecasted budget shortfall itself then council tax would have to go up by a massive 32% ? a move that could lead to the council being capped by the Government.

The council?s Conservative group leader Dick Eberlie, who is chairman of the influential policy committee, said the council was ?very, very worried? about the situation.

He said: ?The problem is very severe. The Government has to change its position ? the alternative is very sharply increased council tax and charges and reduction in services.?

Cllr Eberlie said it was ?too early to say? if staff redundancies would be considered by councillors. West Devon was already the smallest staffed district council in England and to cut back further would put ?enormous strain? on employees.

?One could consider horrific things like only collecting rubbish every two weeks and cutting back on grants to community facilities.

?We had to close some public conveniences last year ? we would have to put charges up again, which was very unpopular this year.?

Cllr Eberlie met Nick Raynsford in Plymouth recently and handed him a letter in which the council pleaded its case.

Borough treasurer Lesley Halton said: ?We are determined to continue delivering good quality services to our residents but financially I feel we are in a battle zone.

?The Government continually imposes new duties on us without the necessary funding. This means that despite previous ruthless cost-cutting measures we are facing a grim budget.?

Since 1998 the borough had carved £2.5-million from its budget which for a poorly resourced council like West Devon was a major achievement, she said.

?Even now our budget is only £6.3-million.

?We carefully calculate our financial situation for five years ahead, but every year the Government imposes completely new initiatives and regulations which destroy our funding plans.

?There are some very unpleasant decisions to be made over the next few months.?

John Burnett, West Devon and Torridge MP, said: ?The costs of providing services in sparsely populated areas is far greater than in cities and there has been a consistent failure by this government to appreciate the problems of rural towns and areas.

?Their failure to understand and make allowance for this is deplorable ? I shall be taking up the cudgels with the local government minister on behalf of West Devon Borough Council.?

Changes to the way in which the Government calculated its grant this year meant the borough lost £167,000 ? council leaders fear next year?s grant may be cut even further, making it even more difficult to meet demands placed upon it.

The Government believes all councils can make annual savings of two-and-a-half per cent. But West Devon?s leaders say that during the last six years, the council has already made savings standing at more than £2.25-million.

West Devon has one of the smallest populations in the English districts ? fewer than 50,000 ? yet it serves an area equivalent to Greater London. It can only raise an extra £28,000 for each one per cent it raises council tax.

It is also one of the most sparsely populated districts in the country, equivalent to one person per acre, yet it receives no extra resources for providing services like refuse collection in such a big area.