West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has called on West Lancashire Borough Council bosses to freeze council tax levels for the forthcoming year to help hard working families through the recession.

Rosie said: "The Government have introduced a number of measures to help people through this difficult economic climate, such as investing in jobs and training, supporting small businesses and cutting VAT.

"It is now important that local government plays its part in supporting its rate payers, and in West Lancashire's case, this means a council tax freeze. It is an easily affordable policy to implement for our council, which has built up an astounding £23 million in reserves over the years.

"The Tory administration has piled up this mountain of cash on the back of the local community. They now have a responsibility to invest that money back into the community."

Rosie continued: "I want to see WLBC help pensioners by funding the option of free rail travel as in neighbouring areas. I also want to see investment in our young people with the introduction of free swimming for youngsters and the re-instatement of the sports development team that was cut by the Conservatives last year.  They should also re-instate weekly bin collections, and perhaps help their Tory friends at County Hall to buy some grit for our roads in readiness for next winter.

"There is certainly no justification for a further attack on vital services, nor indeed to seek any additional monies from local council tax payers. £23 MILLION is a significant amount of cash to have salted away. It's about time the Tories started investing it on services that matter."