Maidstone market could become a casualty of the credit crunch next year.

Funding for the twice-weekly market could be withdrawn by Maidstone Borough Council as it looks to reduce non-essential spending to cope with the global slump.

The cutbacks could also affect Maidstone Museum, the Hazlitt Arts Centre and the grants the council gives to charities and community groups.

Council finance chiefs expect the recession to impace on council funds for at least the next two years and are preparing a strategy to protect its most important services.

A scrutiny committee heard that strategy could also include a council tax increase of 4.9 per cent in April, and “efficiency savings” although Cllr Chris Garland (Con), the council leader, denied this would include redundancies.

Cllr Garland said a cross-party seminar would be held after April to discuss which “discretionary” council services could be cut.

There is no legal obligation for the council to fund many popular Maidstone services, including the market, museums, parks and the Hazlitt Theatre.

It is a strategy backed by Maidstone residents who use the council’s website to have their say on where funds should be spent.

The 200 people who responded said that spending on CCTV, street cleaning and recycling should increase. They wanted less money spent on grants to charities, Maidstone Museum, the Hazlitt Theatre and parks.

Cllr Eric Hotson (Con) said: “The public say they want money spent on street cleaning, waste and recycling, and CCTV. They say that grants and funding for the museum and the market should be lower.

“Maidstone was a market town, but it is not now a market town. I remember going on a Tuesday 20 years ago and you couldn’t move - today it is a ghost town.”