LANCASHIRE County Council is to cut key services and at least 50 jobs to help plug a £12.5 million hole in its budget.

In order to keep residents' council tax increase to a rise of five per cent, the county council has said it will need to make cuts across the board.

The Labour executive's £10 million package of "efficiency savings", which includes recycling plant closures, loss of information centres and further school bus service cuts, has now been accepted by the councillors.

And agency and temporary jobs will also be lost as well as 50 job losses in human resources.

The council will also start to charge its staff to use the County Hall car park. Councillors have been asked to suggest ways in which the other £2.5 million could be saved ready for the budget to be set in February.

Council leader Coun Hazel Harding said they were facing an extra squeeze this year because of the government's ruling that women's pay should be increased to be brought into line with men's, as well as the rising cost of social care for children and elderly people.

But Coun Peter Britcliffe, leader of Hyndburn Council, said the job cuts were like "robbing Peter to pay Paul". He said: "This is something that could almost have been anticipated.

"It is accepted that people should be paid equally for doing the same job but one wonders if it should be done in such a rush. If the process were staged it would minimise job loss."

Liberal Democrat Coun David Whipp said the redundancies, car parking charges and other staff efficiency savings should have been introduced years ago, making long-term savings and stopping the council having to cut public services now.

He said: "This is County Hall all over and, quite frankly. This should have been tackled a decade or more ago."

But Coun Harding said that in her 20 years as a councillor she had seen many job cuts, but could "count on the fingers of one hand" the number of people who had been sacked, with most leaving under voluntary redundancy, and that this round would be no different.

She said: "As a prudent council we are trying to put some money to one side for backpay and other things when equality laws come in.

"The difficult thing is that people who are working through this know that their jobs may not be there by the time they have finished this piece of work.

"But it will be graded - it won't be a case of on one day so many people will stop working for us."

Coun Harding said the savings would be sustainable, meaning a more efficient council in future.