VITAL council services in Southampton could be disrupted in a row over cuts to generous staff travel expenses.

Unions have threatened industrial action after the council voted to slash mileage rates to 40p to save cash.

They were left fuming after Tories adopted the Labour budget proposal without consulting them.

Union bosses insist the present 56.5p rate cannot be withdrawn without a collective agreement or notice that employment contracts will be ripped up and rewritten.

Any action could affect services from meals on wheels to home care, to school transport to child protection.

Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker said: “Many council services only exist because council staff provide their own cars to use at work.

“The current mileage rate only covers the cost of keeping a car on the road. Council staff do not make ‘a profit’ on providing cars.

“If the council enforces these new rates, hundreds of council staff will refuse to use their cars while at work.”

The union will hold a meeting of car users in coming weeks to discuss the proposal.

Cabinet member for finance councillor Jeremy Moulton said the council would hold discussions with the unions and would listen to “exceptional reasons” why a higher figure should be adopted.

Union members working for Isle of Wight Council have been in locked in a dispute with the council chiefs for the past 12 weeks over plans to replace its 47p mileage rate for those travelling fewer than 6,000 miles. The council claimed it would save £320,000 a year.

A proposal by Hampshire County Council to cut the 53p per mile claimed by 7,500 staff to 40p next April to save £1.3m has also provoke union anger.

The maximum tax-free mileage rate recommended by HM Revenue & Customs is 40p.