THE Prime Minister has attacked his own civil servants for trying to obstruct the replacement of the hated Pacer trains – describing it as “extraordinary”.

Mr Cameron also pledged annual updates to his economic plans for the North-East and Yorkshire, arguing they were “changing the way we govern the country”.

And he vowed to consult “grassroots” Conservative party members before entering a fresh Coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats, after May 7.

But he warned local authorities will face further hefty funding cuts in the next parliament, arguing they would be even bigger under Labour.

On the “clear and bold” regional economic plans, Mr Cameron said: “I see this as a really important exercise in changing the way we govern the country.

“If I’m re-elected, we will, every year, return to every region of the country with an update on how the plan is going.”

The Budget sets Britain on a “rollercoaster” ride of huge future cuts, the independent Office of Budget Responsibility said – with councils certain to be in the firing line again.

Asked “how much more can councils take”, Mr Cameron pointed to rising council reserves and said: “They do have financial capacity. I think there is more efficiency to be delivered.”

And he argued the £5.3bn Better Care Fund would ease the pain, saying: “That’s NHS money that they have not previously been able to see, into the social care system.”

When the department for transport fulfilled Mr Cameron’s pledge – to The Northern Echo – to axe the Pacers, a “ministerial direction” was issued, revealing that top civil servants disagreed.

Yesterday (Thursday), he said: “Amazingly we had to over–rule the official machine – an instruction had to be given.

“It’s extraordinary how Government works these days – to get rid of trains that everyone agreed were completely out of date.”