SOUTHAMPTON residents have been warned the city could be heading for huge council tax rises and job cuts unless civic chiefs take drastic action to balance the books.

Opposition councillors fear that unless city bosses slash a five-year £67.5m wish list the council could be heading for a major cash crisis.

But today, council leader Councillor June Bridle's urged residents "don't panic" but admitted job cuts were on the cards.

Her comments came after the Labour group's five-year plan, outlining cash needed to improve services, was attacked by political rivals.

The draft document says around £10.1 million would be needed by the council to pay for the planned improvements in services in 2003 to 2004.

Among the plans, are schemes to beef-up the city's re-cycling programmes, improve educational opportunities and cut crime.

But when the schemes were costed-out by city finance bosses they came to £67.5 million over a five-year period from 2003/4 to 2006/7.

Tory Councillor Royston Smith said the document could result in huge council tax rises and scores of workers being laid off.

Cllr Smith said: "Labour have got to tackle this problem now.

"This situation cannot be tackled by an increase in council tax alone, it would take a 34 per cent increase just to cover the first year's deficit.

"This has thrown the whole five-year medium term plan into chaos."

If only the first year's planned £10.1 million increase was implemented in 2003/4 it would mean council tax payers would face a massive rise of £283 to their bills, according to Cllr Smith.

At the moment, an average band D householder pays £833.17 per year following this year's council tax budget rise of 7.8 percent. The bill would rise to a staggering £1116.44p per band D household if a 34 percent rise took place.

Cllr Bridle insisted the plan was still at a draft stage.

She said they were expecting cash problems over pension payments, possible pay rises for staff and a potential cut in Government funding to councils to be announced early next year.

"The plan outlines the things we would like to try to do," she said. "We will try to make sure we can deliver as much of it as we can.

"It's currently a work in progress document and the final version will not go before the full council until later.

"With the additional financial pressures on us, there will be job losses.

"We will be examining every area and department at the council and it will then be a case of us deciding where the priorities lay as part of the budget process."

The budget process, which will be finalised early next year, begins in the coming weeks

The council's medium term plan revealed a deficit of millions of pounds if all the proposals were put in place.

Mike Tucker, branch secretary of Unison, said had been informed of the details in the plan.

He added they would be involved in discussions with council bosses about the repercussions of it once it had been finalised.

"We would oppose any compulsory redundancies and any externalisation of services.

"But we do feel the financial problems are caused by lack of funding from the Labour Government."