A COUNCIL is cutting 40 jobs from its highways team on the cusp of winter, despite taxpayers having identified roads and maintenance as their top priority for spending.

In a major public consultation exercise, residents of County Durham said highways and winter maintenance budgets should be protected from Government spending cuts above all other services.

Nevertheless, Durham County Council has confirmed plans to axe 40 jobs from its highways operations department over the next 12 months.

Independent councillor John Shuttleworth said: “It hasn’t been thought through. Highways are a priority and it’s the wrong thing to do at the wrong time.

“The council is going against its own policy, when the public have said they want highways and winter maintenance to be top of our agenda.”

Staff were told of the cuts in briefings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

One highways worker, who asked not to be named, said: “They’re cutting the budget and cutting staff and they’re not going to be able to keep the roads moving. It’s an impossibility.”

The council faces cuts of up to £190m by 2017.

John Reed, its head of technical services, said: “The plans to reduce highways services jobs by 40 over the next 12 months reflect reduced workloads and are linked to changes in services as a result of reduced budgets.

“The job reductions include managers, designers and road workers.

“Staff and trades unions have been informed and will be fully consulted should a restructure be required.

“As with all job losses the council is looking at redeployment and also inviting expressions of interest in early retirement and voluntary redundancy to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies.”

Coun Shuttleworth said the authority had 549 agency workers on its books on October 30 and should be looking after its own staff before these workers.

However, Mr Reed said highways services employed only three agency staff, who would be reviewed as part of the commitment to minimise compulsory redundancies.

“The council will still retain a substantial workforce of around 300 staff in highway services,” he added.

Council leader Simon Henig said the highways budget had been protected more than other areas but the authority wasn't able to maintain it at 100 per cent of previous levels.

"This is a very difficult time and the Government has never openly admitted that its own funding model suggests a huge cut in funding for highways across the country," he added.