A POLITICAL feud has erupted over council proposals to borrow millions of pounds as part of its budget plans.

Conservatives said Darlington Borough Council's plans to borrow £60m over four years to fund "idealistic schemes" would hit taxpayers hard. The opposition said residents would pay an extra £26 a year in council tax.

Tory resources spokesman Charles Johnson said the borrowing plans were extraordinary at a time when the Government was reducing its grants to the authority and had also instructed it to save more than £1m.

He said: "How can it make sense to carry on with a spend, spend, spend policy when the Labour Government is saying cut, cut, cut?

"Darlington is also running out of disposable assets and, very shortly, robbing Peter to pay Paul will not be an option and the future will look bleak for all Darlington taxpayers."

Council leader John Williams hit back, saying the Conservative group was rooted in the past and had no ambition for the town.

He said: "Which of Labour's forward-thinking schemes would they stop? Building a new shopping centre with a major department store at Commercial Street, redeveloping the pedestrian heart of our town centre, or perhaps the refurbishment of the Dolphin Centre?

"With all of these schemes, Labour is investing in Darlington's future and keeping council tax the lowest in the region. The Conservatives have always opposed Labour's ambitious and carefully costed plans."

Town hall officials said 70 per cent of the money borrowed would be repaid by the Government.

At a meeting yesterday, the Conservative group abstained from supporting the medium-term financial plans, which contain details of the council's borrowing and spending.

The issue will be discussed again next month.