COMMUNITY grants and youth work are under threat in the Vale of White Horse after the district council unveiled multi-million pound proposals to cut its budget.

The council has also agreed to raise car park fees and cut five per cent of its workforce as it attempts to save £6.6m over five years.

However, residents, community groups and unions condemned the proposals.

Anne Groom, manager at Abingdon Citizens’ Advice Bu-reau, said: “We’ve been told our funding will not be lowered but there is a very real risk we will have to reduce our hours to cope with rises in business rates and National Insurance contributions.

“It’s difficult because at the moment we’re seeing more people than ever because of the recession.”

No one-off community gran-ts will be made next year, saving the council £103,400, while its partnership grants budget will be reduced by £415,000 over the next five years.

The council is closing the Wantage Local Services Point to save £669,000 and plans to reduce funding to its equivalent in Abingdon.

Peter Preston, 63, of Warmans Close, in Wantage, is a regular user of the centre.

He said: “I think it’s terrible and disgusting we’re going to lose the centre and a lot of people feel the same way. We’re losing more and more things and it feels like we’re the poor relation to Abingdon.”

Craig Hart is manager of the Vale and Downland Museum, in Wantage, which receives £32,000 a year from the partnership grant.

Mr Hart said: “If we’re hit by the cuts it will be a pity. If we’re affected we’ll have to reduce our opening hours or make redundancies.”

The council is proposing 14 redundancies from its 273 workforce, although the losses could double as it continues its merger with South Oxfordshire District Council.

Its outreach youth worker will also be axed, saving £205,854 over five years.

Steve Waite, Unison regional organiser for Oxfordshire, said: “We’ve worked with the council for the past year so to hear about these 14 redundancies is a shock and a kick in the teeth.

“These are draconian actions and cutting jobs and services at a time of a recession will make things worse.”

The council’s measures include reducing spending on sports by more than £500,000, cutting councillors’ allow-ances by £150,000 and putting up the car park fees to generate an extra £355,000.

Park maintenance is also set to suffer, with a £155,000 reduction in its budget.

Jerry Patterson, district council executive member for finance, said: “This year we have been presented with some enormous challenges and we have had to look very hard at what we can continue to afford.”

The executive committee will consult before making recommendations to the full council, which meets to agree the budget on February 17.

The cutbacks come in the wake of Oxfordshire County Council’s announcement that it must cut £106m from its budget over the next five years, as well as hundreds of posts.