Unions and opposition councillors have reacted angrily to the news that about 5% of posts at Suffolk County Council could be lost as it tries to balance its books.

Between 200 and 240 posts could be lost from the 4,500 currently employed by the authority - but it is trying to keep redundancies to a minimum.

UNISON branch secretary Neil Bland said: “Councils have spent the last decade slashing spending to the bone. Cuts on this scale will take services in Suffolk past breaking point.

“It’s still too early to say exactly where the axe will fall, but cuts on this scale will mean hundreds of job losses.

“This will be a disaster for council workers as well as the people relying on the services they provide. 

“Even if the council manages to avoid or minimise compulsory redundancies, remaining staff will have unmanageable levels of extra work piled on them. Communities across Suffolk are sure to feel the hit.”

The leader of the Opposition at the county, Green councillor Andrew Stringer, said: "We don't know where the jobs will go but people are already spread very thinly."

The county announced on Wednesday that it hoped to save £11m a year by reducing levels of staff.

The authority is facing huge challenges and is expecting to put its element of council tax up by 5% from April - but still having to make major cuts to services.

Deputy leader Richard Rout, who is also cabinet member for finance, said: “Given the scale of the savings we need to make in order to properly fund services for those in greatest need in Suffolk, it’s only right that we look at our own headcount.

"Restructuring and changing the way we work will be important elements to ensure the council is sustainable.

"Moving forward, it is not going to be possible to do everything we do now, in the same way.

"Some jobs will have to go, but this is necessary to ensure we have enough money to protect vulnerable children and adults in Suffolk.

"This is our priority. Where possible, we will try to do this through not filling vacant posts which will reduce the need for redundancies.”

Labour group leader Sarah Adams said: “These cuts will be a devastating blow to our public services, from children’s centres to culture, from trading standards to our fire service.

“Suffolk County Council’s staff are the bedrock of the authority. This will be the final blow to the morale of those who have battled with cuts for years doing more and more for less and less. Enough is enough.

“£65 million worth of brutal cuts come at a time when it already feels like nothing is working, and we will be left much poorer when this is combined with a 5% hike in council tax during a cost of living crisis.

“However, while not absolving the county Conservatives of their erosion of our cherished services, they are not solely to blame for this situation.

“Suffolk’s Conservative MPs are part of a Government in Westminster which has driven councils to the brink through unrelenting cuts and their reckless management of our economy.

“It is they too who should be answerable for their role in Suffolk’s residents having to pay more and more in taxes, while receiving less and less when it comes to our public services.”