COALITION Government spending cuts will slash Merseyside budgets for “frontline” services by more than £25m this year alone.

Education budgets, including help for children falling behind in class and neighbourhood renewal projects, will be the hardest hit.

Shadow ministers pointed to an emerging North-South divide, with Merseyside being hit harder that leafy southern suburbs.

North West shadow minister Phil Woolas said: “It is the country’s poor and deprived areas which are now expected to bear the burden of the deficit.”

Former Communities Secretary John Denham asked, during bitter Commons clashes: “Why is it that impoverished northern mill towns, ex-coalfields and struggling seaside resorts will take the biggest share of the cuts?

“Why is it that big cities – Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham – will take the largest cuts?”

His Tory successor, Eric Pickles, said the reason why these areas were facing such “challenging” times was due to the £156bn borrowing bill inherited from Labour.

The cutbacks announced for the current financial year included:

Liverpool: £9.288m, of which £4.051m will be from education; £3.51m from neighbourhood renewal, and £1.302m from local enterprise grants.

Sefton: £3.156m, including £2.138m from education and £776,00 from neighbourhood renewal.

St Helens: £3.209m, including £1.584m from education and £901,000 from enterprise funds.

Wirral: £3.297m, including £2.643m from education and £1.017m from neighbourhoods.

Knowsley: £3.56m, including £2.111m from education and £1.77m from neighbourhoods.

Halton: £2.047m, including £1.225m from education.