GWYNEDD Council’s leader has criticised the Welsh Government for slashing local authorities’ budgets and warned residents they may face a council hike of “five or six per cent”.

Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn has already spoken out following Welsh Government minister Alun Davies’ budget for local government in Wales, hitting back after Mr Davies suggested council leaders were like Oliver Twist asking for more.

Following his public statement, Cllr Siencyn continued his diatribe at this month’s Dolgellau Town Council, where he sits as a county councillor.

“You may have seen my comments in the press, I’m very disappointed with the amount of money councils have received in the local government settlement,” he said.

“They could have spent five per cent more. They’ve made immense contributions to the transport budget but we have received very little.

“Gwynedd Council received a 0.8 per cent decrease in funding, it doesn’t sound much but its a gap of £12-13 million.

“They have decided to give money to everything else, but not to local government, where we’re constantly having to do more with less.

“There are other councils in worse positions than us, we’ve prepared for it, but there will be frightening implications for some.

“Some councils are looking at increasing their rates by 10 to 12 per cent to cope with the changes, they don’t know where to turn.

“We’re definitely not in that position, but it’s quite possible we’re looking to increase rates by five or six per cent.

“That may be what we have to do to keep vital services.

“We’re being squeezed to the extreme.

“We’ve cut back £60m already without damaging services to the elderly or children but here we are, we have to squeeze more blood from the stone.”