UP to 100 jobs could be lost as Redcar and Cleveland continues its battle to balance its books in the face of continued Government cuts.

Residents will also be faced with an almost four per cent council tax increase after the council looks to impose a near-two per cent increase on top of an additional two per cent specifically for adult social care.

Other cuts on the agenda include dimming or switching off of some street lighting across the borough as well as modernising its library services.

When outlining the budget proposals for the coming years, council leader Councillor Sue Jeffrey was keen to point out positive investment plans coming through despite being forced to tighten the authority's purse strings.

The Labour-led council is setting out its spending plans for the next three years, which will take the authority up to 2019-20, and Cllr Jeffrey was keen to quash rumours of changes to bin collections and library closures.

She said: "We are facing another £25m worth of cuts and we are having to bridge the gap between what needs to change day to day and increase our income which is why we are having to impose a near two per cent council tax increase and the two per cent social care precept.

"The cuts are going to affect everything we do – there's no doubt about that – we are going to have to make serious changes."

The council is looking at offering council tax exemption to foster families in an attempt to reduce the cost of having to send young people out of the area for care.

Plans to switch off or dim street lights in areas that will not be affected by crime or making roads dangerous will be rolled out across the borough between 1am and 5pm.

Changes to library services will include changing the opening times of some while moving others into more community-focussed centres, but Cllr Jeffrey assured residents that there were no plans to close any libraries.

A third of the council's staff will have been made redundant in the last ten years, reducing the number from around 3,400 to 2,300 who will be remaining by 2020.

One area of positivity was plans to release funding for capital schemes to regenerate town centres across the borough.

Cllr Chris Massey, the cabinet member for resources, said that money would be made available for town centres including Guisborough, Saltburn Loftus and Eston, with the public being encouraged to get involved in any plans.

Consultation on the some of the proposals will take place through December and January before the plans go before cabinet members for approval.

All of the authority's members will then attend a special budget meeting in February before the plans are implemented.