CONSERVATIVES who took control of a North Yorkshire authority in this month's local elections say they have inherited a cash crisis from their political rivals.

The Liberal Democrats held sway in the Harrogate Borough Council chamber for 13 years and said finances were in a mess when they took over power from the Conservatives in 1990.

However, now that they have won the borough back, the Conservatives have arranged an emergency meeting tomorrow and say they have some tough decisions to make if they are to balance the books.

Key points the Conservatives say the Liberal Democrats have failed to address include:

* Not meeting recycling targets which means, unless £122,000 is spent improving the situation, the Government could send in a hit squad to sort things out;

* New development plans are required at the Harrogate conference centre and for the Royal Hall restoration as money has not been coming in quickly enough to cover existing proposals;

* Major investment is needed in computers to meet Government targets in order to ensure that the council improves efficiency.

"The council is in a serious financial position," said the newly-appointed Tory council leader, Mike Gardner.

"We had no hint of such bad news until the books were opened up before us.

"The public will be dismayed that, while trumpeting so-called financial success, the previous administration has failed to grasp a number of financial nettles, leaving the council and its taxpayers dangling in financial limbo."

However, the Liberal Democrats are equally adamant that the Conservative group has always been aware of the financial challenges that lay ahead because the party was allowed full access to the decision-making process and to advice from the authority's professional officers.

"It was even a Conservative who chaired the council's resources scrutiny committee,'' said senior Liberal Democrat John Fox.

"This is a clear case of political one-upmanship. What the Conservatives would be better doing is concentrating on solutions to the real issues and getting involved in work that is for the good of the people they have been elected to serve."