LEADING Merseyside local government leaders have launched a stinging attack on Communities Secretary Eric Pickles over the cuts facing our councils.

Liverpool councillor Richard Kemp, Lib-Dem leader of the Local Government Association, and Tony Robertson, leader of Sefton Council, were among 88 local Lib-Dem heads, to sign an open letter warning of the pace of the Government's spending cuts.

They accused Mr Pickles of "letting down" users of council services and refusing to work with councillors.

In the letter, which lays bare the depth of frustration felt by local Lib-Dems, the signatories accused Mr Pickles of being "unwilling to lead the change that's so desperately needed".

Cllr Kemp said: “The secretary of state is stopping meaningful discussion between governments and local authorities about sensible decision making.

“He is also obscuring a sensible debate about the problems themselves. The Labour government would have cut almost as much as we would. Unless you recognise the depth of the problem, you can’t find a solution.”

Cllr Robertson said he was fully acceptant of the need to reduce the country’s deficit and Sefton’s role. But the Maghull councillor said Mr Pickles’s decision to “frontload” savings had forced councils to rush into making “gut- wrenching decisions”.

Cllr Robertson said: “The frontloading means that we’re making savings at an incredibly fast pace, which doesn’t allow us to change the organisation to best harvest savings.

“The real concern is the way things have been gone about. The lack of diplomacy from Eric Pickles and the way he talks about local authorities just makes the whole process a lot worse. His contribution to this issue has just not helped.”

The letter, sent to The Times, seemed to show a split between local and national Lib-Dems.