CRAZY golf, pitch-and-putt and tennis all look set to be saved in Abingdon in the face of cuts.

The leisure facilities were listed for the axe in £660,000 worth of savings in Vale of White Horse District Council’s draft budget.

Closing them would have saved the £9,000 a year needed to run the ticket kiosk and maintain the grounds.

But the council has managed to find the cash through “efficiency savings” instead.

The spending cuts follow a Government decision to reduce the council’s grant by 16 per cent next year – from £6.6m to £5.6m.

Council tax will stay the same while the community grants budget will increase by £20,000 to £103,000.

Also saved are 25 recycling sites at supermarkets, which cost £28,000 a year.

But the council will charge for planning application advice, and charges for garden waste collection will increase to bring in £28,000 a year.

The pest control service will be axed to save £24,760, with people being put in touch with private contractors instead.

The council will also scrap three out of five 20p-a-time superloos.

Between April and September last year 526 people used the pitch-and-putt course and 1,144 played crazy golf.

Council leader Tony de Vere said a three-year partnership with South Oxfordshire District Council had meant savings in management and staffing. He said: “The things we decided three years ago are starting to bear fruit. We had to look very hard at how we can reduce our costs rather than cut services. It is a credit to all the staff.”

Last week, it was announced staff earning more than £25,000 a year at both councils will have their pay frozen to save taxpayers about £650,000 a year.

The changes to the budget come after six weeks of public consultation.

Richard Webber, executive member for finance, said: “These things come through in a steady trickle – some are predicted and some are not.

“Really there is an absolutely minimum impact on frontline services and we are still able to find money to support the things we want to – that is a heck of an achievement.”

The full council will meet to rubberstamp the recommendations at a public meeting on February 23 in the Guildhall, Abingdon, at 7pm.

Mr de Vere was one of 17 Liberal Democrat council leaders to sign a letter to The Times expressing concern over the speed and scope of the cuts.

He added: “You need time to get these changes in to place.”