CASH-strapped West Somerset Council has been handed a £159,000 Government windfall to help its fight to make annual savings of at least £1 million a year by 2019.

The money comes from a Rural Services Delivery Grant which helps local authorities operating in sparsely-populated areas.

Next year, West Somerset will get a further grant of nearly £80,000.

“We welcome the news that cuts in our funding will not be as steep as previously expected in the next two years,” said council leader Anthony Trollope-Bellew.

“This gives the council more time to plan for and deliver significant savings needed to balance the books over the medium term.”

Local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, a member of the Rural Fair Share Group of MPs which has long been campaigning for more Government funding for rural communities, said he was delighted by the news.

Pointing out that urban areas currently receive on average 45 per cent more Government funding per resident than rural districts, he added: “This is good news and a victory for common sense.

“While this amount of money might not change the final fate of West Somerset Council, if the money is used to help balance the books it will give it more of a fighting chance to stay as a sovereign council.”

Local Government Secretary Greg Clark has announced that the increased support for sparsely populated rural areas such as West Somerset will increase from the present £15.5 million to £65 million in 2019-20.

A spokesman for the Rural Fair Share Group said: “The increase in the grant is good news. We are pleased the Government recognises the unfairness of the current system which sees poorer, older and more heavily taxed rural residents receive fewer local government services.”