A SEFTON Council meeting to slash £35m from its budget had to be adjourned as protesters shouted across the council chamber.

Anti-cuts campaigners forced Sefton council's meeting to be adjourned for more than 45 minutes after breaking into loud protests just moments after it had begun.

Politicians were forced to move the critical cost-cutting session to an upstairs chamber in Bootle town hall, where they rubber stamped savings to meet a £50m black hole in the authority's budget over the next two years.

Street lights will be turned off, football fees will rise and burial costs are to become among the most expensive in the country after councillors passed millions of pounds of money saving measures. Charges will be introduced for green waste collections while residential care bed commissioning will be reviewed, with each option expected to save £1m.

Council tax was frozen for 2013/14, but will rise to £1,489 for a Band D payer after rises in police and fire precepts. A 1.99% increase is planned the following year.

Seven closure-threatened libraries were handed a late reprieve as the ruling Labour party agreed to consider any "feasible and sustainable" plans to salvage them within the next three months.

But they committed to a £400k saving from the library service however it may be found.

A £1m community transition fund was also approved to help volunteers and communities deal with the consequences of service cuts.

The drama last night unfolded barely 10 minutes into the meeting when a packed public gallery erupted into shouting and chanting, with protesters accusing councillors of sitting in their "ivory towers" as they oversaw damning cuts to public services.