Squabbling between politicians threatened to overshadow the gathering at Morecambe Town Hall, where councillors must rubber-stamp £1.8million of savings to balance the books and keep council tax increase at no more than 4% in 2009/10.

The Labour group has claimed the Morecambe Bay Independents are "vindictive towards Lancaster" and the Greens "offer unworkable solutions".

Labour's Coun Eileen Blamire also said the recent resignation of Conservative Coun Roger Mace as council leader has left the Tories "rudderless".

In retaliation, Coun Roger Mace said: "If the council is now 'rudderless', it can only be my Labour successor as council leader (Abbot Bryning) who is to blame."

At tomorrow's meeting, the four main political groups on council are expected to each champion their own different causes in an attempt to save them from the chop.

Labour's Coun Ron Sands predicted a "stormy and protracted debate".
Coun Blamire said: "We have listened carefully to public opinion on such matters as the proposed closure of public toilets, cuts to the Dukes Theatre, support for festivals and reductions for the two Citizens Advice Bureaux.

"Our plans seek to unite the whole district and do not play off Lancaster against Morecambe or vice-versa."

Coun Blamire also said the time was now right to heal wounds, not deepen them.

Roger Mace said the Labour group had "adopted Conservative aims".
"Setting a budget that will be fair to the whole district and which will heal the Morecambe-Lancaster divide that has emerged in current debates has long been the Conservative Group's objective," he said.

He also said the proposed budget was "curiously generous in providing for expenditure to pay people to stop providing the council's services (redundancy, early retirement etc) but penny-pinching in its treatment of minor expenditures on popular services to our communities."
Coun John Whitelegg, of the Green party, said the Greens would be looking to save the Morecambe and Lancaster Citizens Advice Bureaux from a proposed £20,000 funding cut.

He said he would be proposing the £20,000 was slashed to a £4,000 cut, with the remaining £16,000 to be saved by cancelling the council's regular magazine 'Your District Council Matters'.
Over the past few months, the city council cabinet has met to recommend various savings.

These include:
* Closing The Dome as of June 1
* Cancelling the 2009 Lancaster International Youth Games
* Introducing a fee for Community Transport users
* Efficiency savings at Salt Ayre Sports Centre
* Reduction in mowing at Lancaster Cemetery and on Broadway Bridge in Morecambe
* Reducing the mayoral budget
* Closing 13 public toilets, to be replaced by a Community Toilets scheme
* Scrapping the Festival Innovation Fund and associated staffing
* Cutting funds to organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Dukes and More Music