THOUSANDS of council, police and fire service jobs in south Hampshire are to be slashed after the Government unveiled savage spending cuts for local authorities.

The Chancellor ordered tens of millions of pounds in savings with preparations already under way locally for a cull of around 2,500 posts.

Hundreds of trade union members joined a protest on the streets of Southampton within hours of the announcement.

Union leaders branded it the “new Black Wednesday” and said the cuts would hit the poorest hardest.

A recent forecast by the regional development agency Seeda suggested 12,000 public sector jobs would potentially go across Hampshire.

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George Osborne spelt out public sector job losses at 490,000 across the country but left it to individual counciils to decide where the axe will fall.

Funding to councils will be reduced by 7.1 per cent a year for the next four years.

However, councils will be given more freedom on how to spend the cash, be freed from 4,700 central targets, and get an extra £2 billion a year for social care.

Southampton City Council is already bracing itself for cuts of up to £50m over the next three years. It could see between 300 and 500 jobs axed from its 4,500 workforce.

Conservative council leader Royston Smith pledged to protect core public services and said he was confident the council could meet the required savings.

He also welcomed new measures to release Government cash to help kick start mothballed development plans.

The council has already cut around 120 jobs to help save £8m earlier this year, and announced a further 60 job cuts in the summer.

It has joined Fareham in asking all its staff to consider voluntary redundancy and drawn up a protocol to merge services with Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, Hampshire County Council leader Ken Thornber and other Hampshire council leaders will be meeting the communities secretary Eric Pickles tomorrow to discuss the cuts.

He said, with the cost of his 40,000 staff accounting for over half his budget, it was “inevitable that we will see reductions in our workforce across all levels”.

While welcoming extra cash for social care he said: “We will have choices to make on which services might need to be reduced and those we can no longer justify in these economic times.”

Reviews in Hampshire council departments are targeting eight per cent annual cuts, about £35m to £40m over four years which could result in hundreds of posts axed.

New Forest District Council too has been preparing for the cuts.

Councillor leader Barry Rickman said: “We have always been a prudent council and we are run debt free. We have always kept the budgets tight and I feel confident that we can face up to the future ahead.”

At Eastleigh Borough Council, finance bosses say they are confident savings plans outlined earlier this year will help weather the cuts.

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Council leaders have agreed efficiency savings of £3.9m over the next four years – a move that could see as many as 50 jobs going by 2014/15.

Liberal Democrat council leader Keith House said: “We are confident that the steps we have put in place will meet the challenges set by the Government.”

Fareham Borough Council plans to cut 42 posts while Winchester civic chiefs plan to axe 70 city council jobs over the next three years.

Test Valley Borough Council hopes to make savings by leaving posts vacant.