PLANS to cut services in Hampshire in a bid to save £80m have been given the green light with more than 270 jobs now at risk.

Street lights will be switched off for longer at night, support for people with learning disabilities is to be reduced and residents will have to pay for disposal of non-household wood waste and to park at countryside sites where it is currently free, as part of a move that will save Hampshire County Council £80m by 2021.

The controversial proposals, which could also mean the closure of some libraries, were approved by county bosses at a full council meeting in Winchester earlier this month.

Further details of the proposals are yet to be revealed and will be subject to public consultation and further approval.

An estimated 277 jobs are now at risk with 120 of them in the adult social care and health department, and up to 58 in the library sector.

Council leader Cllr Keith Mans said this was the fifth in a series of cost-saving programmes and would be the most challenging.

Opposition leader Cllr Keith House said the county council’s budget was “unsustainable”.

He added: “The incremental reduction of our services continues and it’s Hampshire people who have to pay.”

A number of councillors raised concerns over the effect the cuts would have on the health and adult social care department.

Cllr Michael Westbrook said: “The most vulnerable will be the hardest hit by these proposals. They will be more costly in the long term. Everyone agrees that prevention is better than cure – and cheaper than cure.”

Cllr Liz Fairhurst added: “I would like to agree with the leader – we need a national solution to adult social care.”

By Maria Zaccaro (LDRS)