Yorkshire councils braced for funding cuts of at least 18pc as Ministers wield the axe

Leeds City Council has already warned it could lose 150m, and experts believe no authority in Yorkshire will escape with a cut of less than 18 per cent once the Government decides how to apply the axe.

Up to 100,000 council jobs are likely to go and growing bills for child protection and adult social care will be difficult to meet after the Government announced a 26 per cent cut in funding over four years, says the Local Government Association (LGA).

The chairman of the Local Government Association, Baroness Eaton, rejected claims some councils could go bust

but warned: "These cuts will hurt. We know this means there will be fewer libraries, more potholes going unrepaired, parks shutting earlier and youth clubs closing."

The Government was under pressure yesterday over the package of 81bn cuts unveiled in Wednesday's Spending Review as the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank warned the poorest would be hit harder than the better off and families would suffer the most.

Prime Minister David Cameron and deputy Nick Clegg sought to defend the measures, which included a fresh 7bn raid on the welfare bill as they were grilled at a question session, both apologising for breaking pre-election promises.

Kirklees Council leader Mehboob Khan said: "The cut to councils of 26 per cent is bad enough. But that is just the average. For metropolitan areas like my council and across West Yorkshire, the figures could be much worse. This cannot be fair."

The LGA also said it was "very concerned" about a "large cut" in spending on flood defences, amid fears it could hamper the chances of people in flood-risk areas getting insurance on their homes in future.

It accused the coalition of taking no account of Environment Agency predictions that current investment would have to double by 2035. But the Government insisted that managing flood risks was a "priority".