Taxpayers are being short-changed in the wake of massive funding cuts and a proposed council tax hike, it has been claimed.

Residents and councillors have reacted with anger after the county hall revealed plans to cut bus services and axe 2,500 posts at the same time as hiking council tax bills by more than £20.

Meanwhile, Hyndburn council chiefs have resisted government calls to introduce weekly bin collections, claiming the move would be unaffordable.

Independent in Hyndburn councillor Dave Parkins said residents were facing higher bills at the same time as cuts in vital services.

He said: “If we’re paying more will we be getting better services? Obviously not because they’re doing more for less. My opinion is the austerity from the coalition government shouldn’t be going this far.”

Marlene Haworth, Hyndburn’s Conservative spokesman for finance, claimed some of the cuts were unnecesary.

She said: “These cuts are really unfortunate. Half of them don’t need to be made as there are monies within councils.”

Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson has revealed spending on council services has been slashed by nearly a quarter since 2011 and said the local authority is still facing savings of £1m each year.

He added: “In the next couple of years we will be looking at 50 per cent reduction of what the council had to spend.

“It’s an achievement of the staff that even though we are shrinking as an organisation each year our productivity is increasing.

“Where I don’t want to see reductions are front line everyday services like refuse collection and parks and open spaces but there is an impact on them.”

Mark Brown, of the Campaign for Accrington Town Centre’s Heart, said the borough should return to weekly bin collections.

He said: “We generate that much rubbish it needs be collected weekly and to rule it out completely is folly.

“As to the bus cuts, again it’s just another nail in the coffin, if we’re cutting subsidies on routes through town centres and villages we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Former pit worker Neil Colbridge, 77, from Accrington, agreed: “People are paying more for less and it’s only going to get worse in the future.”

Retired school caretaker Eddie Sharples, 72, from Accrington, was worried about the effect on future generations.

He said: “I feel sorry for the grandkids. It’s going to hit them very hard in the future and be very hard work for them.”