MOST people have little sympathy with Swindon Council's budget dilemmas, an Evening Advertiser telephone poll suggests.

Nearly 89 per cent of those who voted in the poll in last Thursday's paper said they would not pay above the 9.5 per cent council tax rise suggested by the Conservative group.

The group has made it clear that such a hike on what is one of the lowest council tax rates in the country is the minimum necessary for next year.

But they have said even at that level, it will not be high enough to stave off cuts to services, which could affect the voluntary sector and leisure services such as the Steam museum. Possible redundancies at the council have also been mooted.

The Adver revealed last week how the council has again been let down by the Government on its cash allocation, which is one of the lowest per capita in the country.

It means that, in order to give schools enough money to improve and to adequately fund the struggling social services department, the large tax rise will be necessary.

But if the telephone poll gives an indication of the general feeling in the town, the political groups will have little support for anything higher than 9.5 per cent.

Council leader Mike Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawn) said he was not surprised by the outcome of the survey.

He said: "That doesn't surprise me at all, but it means that what we can do now is ask people themselves where they would cut the services.

"We will shortly be able to put some choices before people in a consultation exercise and they will be able to see for themselves the difficult choices we are facing."

A special cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow to consider the council's current financial position and kick-start the public consultation on next year's budget.