CASTLE Point Council has been told its Government grant will be cut by 17.6 per cent in 2011/12 and 12.1 per cent in 2012/13.

This means it will get £970,000 less from Whitehall next April 2011 than it did the year before and £570,000 less the following April.

The Government has indicated grants are likely to be cut back over a four-year period but details about years three and four have not been announced.

Tory council leader Pam Challis, said: “The council has been anticipating reductions in grants, but these are at the upper end of the range of those predicted.

“We have been working hard to ensure the efficiencies we have introduced were sufficient to cope with the cuts in grant, but we will have to look very carefully again at our budgets.

“Inevitably we will be faced with some difficult choices but we will endeavour to ensure frontline services are not affected.”