CUTS to town and parish councils will have a "massive" impact, councillors have warned.

In total 64 councils across the Braintree district face losing all their funding from Braintree District Council.

Witham is set to lose around £58,336 in the move which will see funding phased out over three years.

Town councillor Michael Lager said there would be a huge impact on the town but said suggestions the council should look at cutting allowances for Braintree councillors to bridge the gap should not be an option.

He said: "The impact on Witham will be massive.

"At the moment we have a budget of half a million pounds; a reduction of almost £60,000 is a loss that could mean a precept council tax increase of up to 15 per cent.

"I rather hop these proposals do not see the light of day; It will leave the parish and town councils down a hole.

"There are better ways to fund the services than to cut allowances; it doeshelp to cover out of pocket expenses. There are a lot of reserves and there's a lot of money there that could be used."

Rivenhall Parish Council, which gets about £9,500 from Braintree Council, is just one of 64 that could lose all funding from Braintree Council.

Rivenhall Chairman and Braintree councillor James Abbott, said: "It's a very serious matter for the parish council and I would not support cuts to it; I don't think it's tenable.

"I imagine most parishes will look at increasing their precept so no services to residents are affected.

"We will have to look very closely at how people on benefits can afford to pay more in council tax.

"There are reserves that could be used."