KENT County Council has stepped up its bid to persuade the Government to pay back more than £8million it says it is owed for looking after child asylum seekers.

Council chiefs say that if ministers do not reimburse the money owed in grants by January, council taxpayers could end up paying the price in the form of higher bills next year.

KCC was among eight local authorities taking their call for the money to Westminster on Tuesday. The eight published a report that said between them were owed more than £35million, dating back over two years.

At more than £8million, Kent's slice of that is the highest sum owed.

Council leader Paul Carter (Con) said KCC's efforts to broker a settlement and have meetings with ministers to discuss the shortfall had fallen on deaf ears.

He also revealed that the affected authorities planned to appoint independent auditors to back up their claims.

He said: "It is vital the Government faces up to its very real responsibilities towards some of our communities' most vulnerable youngsters.

"This cross-party issue affects numerous councils and, while stressing our commitment to caring properly for these young people, the Government should pay us the money we are owed."

Under the current arrangements, local councils receive grants from both the Home Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Mr Carter accused the Goverment of changing the rules surrounding what councils could claim, making planning impossible. The actual sum KCC spent on asylum seekers was higher than the sum it got back in grants, he added.

The number of unaccompanied minors entering the UK has dropped sharply since the high point reached in the late 1990s. This year, KCC has had 152 cases assigned to it by the Border and Immigration Agency, which has replaced the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

However, its difficulties stem from the fact that it continues to look after more than 700 young asylum seekers who arrived before Government measures took effect in limiting the arrivals.

KCC chief executive Peter Gilroy said that even if the numbers fell, the county continued to face fixed costs such as paying for interpreting services.