HEADTEACHERS are to hold another crisis meeting next week after councillors failed to solve an £8.3 million gap in April's schools budget.

They will plan what to do after accusing councillors of ignoring warnings that class sizes would go up, teaching jobs would be lost and plans for inclusive education would be hit.

A packed meeting of Medway's support services committee proposed a council budget of almost £275 million. It will be considered by the cabinet on February 5.

In November the cabinet's members said they wanted to keep spending on all services down to £252 million. If the support services budget is accepted, it would mean a 38 per cent rise in the average council tax for Medway residents.

*Further details of the impact of the budget on local schools in Monday's Medway Today.