SOUTHAMPTON residents have just weeks left to have their say on £31m of cuts to the city's services.

Proposals to axe 137 jobs and public toilets and raise council tax by almost two per cent were revealed in the Daily Echo last year.

Labour city council chiefs say they have been forced into cutting services by their ever-shrinking grants from Whitehall.

They had already agreed a “mini-budget” of £8.1million of savings earlier this year, which were largely efficiency savings but also included the closure of the city's dog kennels and the loss of 80 jobs.

In November it was revealed that another 137 jobs - largely in frontline social care - are at risk and council tax could go up by 1.99 per cent again as part of £17million of service cuts in the budget proposals for 2015/16.

Almost £10m has been found in one-off funding to plug the gap, but they are still faced with plugging a £4.3m gap before the budget is set next month.

Some of that is expected to be found through separate cuts to adult social care services, which will see 130 jobs lost and a respite centre, residential care home and day services for adults with learning disabilities.

Labour council leaders have said they will do “all in our power” to ensure vital services are maintained, but the Conservative opposition have criticised them for not carrying out major changes to the way the council is run earlier to avoid severe cuts.

Consultation on the council's budget proposals is set to end on February 10, but an online questionnaire on the proposals is only available until January 21.

Council finance chief Stephen Barnes-Andrews said: “There's a paper consultation or the questionnaire can be completed online, and the more that people contribute and give us their ideas, the better-informed our decisions will be.”

You can complete the questionnaire at southampton.gov.uk