Forty people could lose their jobs as part of a cuts package at East Sussex County Council.

The council said the figure was the best estimate of the number of people it expected to make redundant as it began finalising next year's budget.

The Conservative leadership is planning cuts and savings of around £8 million as it struggles to keep council tax bills down.

The tax should rise by about five per cent next year, the authority's ruling cabinet was told.

Deputy leader Daphne Bagshawe said the previous Lib Dem and Labour administration had been "yellow carded" by the Government because of last year's 9.8 per cent increase.

She said the Conservatives won power in June promising to tackle runaway council tax increases, restore the authority's reserves and concentrate spending on key services.

She said: "High council tax is a cut in someone's pocket. We are absolutely determined not to do that unless we absolutely have to."

The savings target means 60 posts could be axed but only 40 of them are currently filled.

Jobs at risk will not be identified until the budget is finalised in February.

The council is planning to set aside between £500,000 and £1 million to meet the cost of the job losses.

On redundancies, Mrs Bagshawe said: "It would be an objective to make that figure as low as possible. It would be dishonest to say there won't be. I think there will."

Schools, the one area where there will be no cuts, should get £11.5 million more than this year because the council is getting more money than it expected from the Government.

Some of the extra Government cash is expected to be channelled into social services, roads and libraries.

Opposition leader David Rogers said 40 job losses was a minimum and the figure could climb higher.

He said last year's council tax increase had helped pay for the post-flooding clear-up and extra investment in schools, which translated to about £1 million more than the Conservatives now planned to spend.

He said: "The Tories are sacrificing public services on this altar of low taxation.

"They seem to be at odds with national spokespeople from the Conservatives, who are talking about increasing public services."