The devastating impact of the Government's spending cuts has become apparent as a West council leader announced 1,500 job losses to plug a £75 million deficit.

Somerset is one of the first county councils in the country to pin-point exactly how it intends to deal with the new austere political landscape.

And Councillor Ken Maddock, leader of the Conservative-controlled authority, has painted a bleak picture.

He admits the cuts will have a "significant impact" on every person living in the county.

The cuts mean;

1,500 jobs face the axe.

The vast majority of planned building projects will be stopped.

Two thirds of the 60 county-owned farms are likely to be sold.

One town library will close temporarily later this month and six others face a temporary cut in hours pending discussions with focus groups about how the service can be provided. But unions have criticised the authority for exacerbating the dire financial situation by refusing to increase council tax next year.

Halting building work means there will be no new £8m school in Yeovil to replace the aging Grass Royal, Reckleford and Pen Mill schools. The planned £6m pedestrianisation of Taunton town centre is also shelved, as is a £300,000 scheme to convert a GP surgery in Castle Cary into a children's centre.

As the Western Daily Press revealed last week, some services are likely to be harder hit than others, with children's social care difficult to cut but cuts of up to 75 per cent being considered in some young people's support services.

Sedgemoor district councillor Kathy Pearce (Lab) warned then that young people could be put at risk.

Mr Maddock admitted that some cuts could lead to bigger bills later.

He said: "The times are wholly exceptional. The national picture is very bleak. We know, like every other council in the country that we all face huge cuts in our funding from the government.

"In Somerset the situation is even more serious.

"We have a debt level in this county council of more than £350million, with projections that it will reach £400 million before it can come down. Servicing that debt is our second biggest bill, not financing roads, not looking after vulnerable people, not improving schools, but debt.

"We are going to have to stop some of our services and have to be a smaller and better-run authority."

He said 1,000 members of staff had already volunteered for redundancy but compulsory losses would be inevitable. "I don't want to lose sight of the fact that there are a lot of very good people in this council, who do a lot of very good work," he said.

Among the most controversial of the council's recent cost-cutting plans has been the proposed sell-off of its farms estate.

It still plans to dispose of around two-third of the 62 holdings but insists most will remain as farms: some tenants have expressed interest in buying all of part of the farms they currently rent and negotiations are also underway with potential new landlords such as the Crown Estate.

And council officials have conceded there is room to improve the management of the 20 or so farms which will remain in its ownership after critics pointed out Somerset's high administration costs.

The council claims the farms made a paper loss of £76,000 last year but critics say that was only because capital spending was charged out in one year rather than being spread over several. The year before they yielded an income of £291,000.

Councillors maintain the estate only returns an income of between two and three per cent, but farmers say if capital receipts are taken into account it is nearer eight per cent.

NFU regional spokesman Ian Johnson said the authority had clearly been forced to rethink its original plan for a total sell-off in the light of the protest campaign.

"I suppose under the circumstances it is the best of a bad job," he said.

"At least it looks as though most of the land is going to remain in production, which is important.

"Obviously we would like the see the Somerset farms estate humming like Devon's does. Devon and Gloucestershire both make money out of their county farms, so what the hell is the difference between them and Somerset – apart from the philosophy?"

Mr Maddock also announced intentions for a zero increase in council tax for the second successive year.

"It is important that the council doesn't increase the financial burden on its residents," he said.

He also announced an initiative to use council-owned business space to boost the local economy.

Clare Brixey, whose son died in a road crash, launched a demonstration outside County Hall calling for speed cameras to be maintained.

The council has removed nine, arguing that they had achieved their purpose.

Condemning the job losses, Unison said: "They will hit the people of Somerset hard, scaling back vital community services, and hitting spending power.

"Cutting most new building projects will only make the dole queues longer. The jobs market is tough enough. People will struggle to find work elsewhere.

"This council is obsessed with freezing council tax, and this has added to the deficit.

"A modest increase makes a small difference to family budgets, but leaves a black hole in council finances. This money could, and should, be used to save jobs and services, and support the region through the downturn."

Yeovil MP David Laws, said he was: "extremely disappointed" by the decision to shelve the replacement school for the east of the town and is seeking clarification of the reason from the Education Secretary.

The Liberal Democrat said the school was: "Desperately needed, given the poor quality of some of the buildings we rely upon in Yeovil schools.

"I have written to the Secretary of State about this to find out whether the funding for the school has been cut by the Government as the county council is suggesting, or is a county council decision."