SOMERSET County Council has approved the first phase of cuts to public services aimed at saving more than £30 million from its 2014/15 budget.

The Conservative-controlled authority backed cutbacks totalling £4m at a meeting last week - despite opposition councillors voting against the proposals.

The move is part of a bid to fill the predicted £106m financial black hole the council believes it will face by 2017.

Around 60 jobs could be lost in the next year, with a further 300-plus staff taken out of local authority employment as heritage services, including museums, are moved to a not-for-profit trust and Somerset Skills and Learning becomes a social enterprise business.

The first round will also see cuts to highway maintenance, the ending of the library enquiry service and a reduction in repairs and maintenance to buildings.

Council leader Cllr John Osman told councillors at last Wednesday's meeting that tough choices had to be made and that he was reluctantly asking councillors to approve the proposals.

But while UKIP councillors joined Conservative members in supporting the cuts, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Independent members voted against them.

Opposition leader Liberal Democrat Cllr Sam Crabb said after the meeting that the first round of cuts would impact on many people across Somerset.

He criticised money spent by the council on launching an online 'balancing the budget' game on its website, which he said could have been better spent on paying for a part-time social worker.

"We all appreciate that the council's budget is much reduced," said Cllr Crabb.

"However, cutting first and not looking at other viable options is a massive mistake.

"It means that the people of Somerset suffer by losing the services that many people rely on.

"All local authorities are facing the same level of cuts to their budget but many are thinking outside the box and are increasing revenue by sharing services or increasing fees for some services.

"To just simply cut services is not acceptable."