EXPERTS were last night trying to work out the full impact of Government spending cuts on Oxfordshire.

There were growing fears of wide spread job losses in the county’s public sector, including councils, hospitals, universities and the police.

Half a million public jobs will be axed because the “country has run out of money” – the stark message from chancellor George Osborne as he announced £81bn in spending cuts yesterday.

And it will resonate with more than 50,000 public sector workers across Oxford. The city has the highest proportion of public sector workers in the UK, with eight of the top 10 employers being public bodies.

County business leaders said the private sector could swallow those redundancies, but that “economic restructuring” could take more than a decade.

Oxford and District Trades Union Council president Gawain Little said the cuts would “devastate” jobs and public services as a protest gathered in Bonn Square last night. There was also a protest at Carfax Tower and outside Oxford & Cherwell Valley College.

Mr Little said: “There is lots of fear and uncertainty. That will turn to anger over time.”

Councils are expected to be hit with a 28 per cent drop in funding – one of largest reductions of any area. But the extent of the damage to services was unclear.

County council leader Keith Mitchell confirmed the cuts were in line with predictions and as many as 1,000 jobs would be lost as it seeks to make savings of £200m.

Mr Mitchell welcomed the protection for the schools budget, science funding and investment in green technology.

He added: “Our worries are what’s left. It seems there is money for transport, but whether it comes here we don’t know.

“It looks like there is money for social care, but the devil is in the detail. We do not have any real answers as yet.”

Oxford City Council’s deputy leader Ed Turner said the outlook for Oxford was “bleak”. He said cuts to funding for social housing coupled with reductions in housing benefit and increases in social rents would hit the city hard.

He added: “It is very bad news. In terms of what it will mean for Oxford. It will be difficult to get away without reductions in frontline services and some job losses.”

Police have been hit with a 16 per cent cut and cannot rule out staff reductions. Mr Osborne said he aimed “to avoid any reduction in visibility or availability” of officers. But Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sara Thornton warned it could lead to “noticeable reductions in services”.

She added: “We won’t find out our actual central police grant until December, so I am unable to speculate on how many roles may go and whether there will be any redundancies or cuts to frontline services at this stage.”

A question mark also remains over improvements to Oxford Railway Station, where a decision on funding is set to be announced next week. It was absent from a list of projects to go ahead.

Rail commuters will also be hit as regulated rail fares are set to rise three per cent above inflation.

The NHS in Oxfordshire said it would need to find £179m of savings over the next three years to to meet the demand for its services.

Universities are facing a 40 per cent cut in teaching budgets but research departments were buoyed by news the science budget has been protected.

There was good news for scientists at Harwell’s Diamond Light Source, which will get an additional £69m.

Chris Mundy, tax partner at Oxford-based business advisers Grant Thornton, said: “The Spending Review has confirmed what we have all been fearing for a while: UK households are in for a tough time.”

cburatta@oxfordmail.co.uk