HUNDREDS of civil service jobs in York have been thrown into doubt as the Government cuts strike home.

Defra, which employs up to 700 people at King’s Pool, will see its funding slashed by 29 per cent over the next four years, following yesterday’s announcement of the comprehensive spending review.

Council chiefs face losing 7.1 per cent of their funding each year up to 2014/15, leaving services under threat and the axe hanging over jobs, al-though the full impact will not be known until later in the year.

Rail passengers will see fares hiked by three per cent above inflation after 2012, and while extra money has been promised for schools, universities are set to feel the squeeze.

York Central MP Hugh Bayley said he feared Defra could lose a third of its workforce, adding: “I’m extremely worried because the Government is taking a massive gamble with unemployment.

“This makes it even more important that if this department ends up with empty office space in York, other civil service jobs are moved here from high-cost locations in London.”

Kersten England, City of York Council’s chief executive, whose authority is aiming to save £50 million over four years, described the cuts as “unprecedented”, and said: “We will be looking long and hard at what the priorities for York’s residents are.

“We are working closely with the trade unions to avoid, if at all possible, compulsory redundancies in our workforce, for example, by using natural turnover, a vacancy freeze and redeployment of staff.”

But Chris Jenkinson, Unison’s regional organiser for local government, claimed the authority could lose 800 to 1,000 jobs over the four years and said: “That will decimate local government.”

The council also faces a 45 per cent reduction in capital funding over the next four years. Keith Best, assistant director for financial services, is due to hold talks in London today to learn more about the full impact of the cuts on York’s grants.

Council leader Andrew Waller put York’s case directly to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg within hours of the cuts announcement.

They took part in a conference call, in which the councillor hoped to raise the city’s suitability for continuing investment in scientific and techno-logical job creation, and the low-carbon economy.

He said: “The areas that have the capability of creating jobs need support as that is where growth is going to come from.” Funds for both areas were protected from the axe and Coun Waller was in discussions with Science City York earlier in the afternoon.

The city has more than 500 scientific and technologically based companies.

Free entry to York’s National Railway Museum will be safeguarded, and a spokesman for the National Museum of Science and Industry said: “We are pleased the Government has reiterated its commitment to free entry, but we hope we can encourage visitors to make donations.”

Last night, a demonstration against the cuts was held outside the Mansion House in York city centre.

• Additional reporting by Megi Rychlikova and Richard Harris