COUNTY Hall chiefs are taking their plea for more money for vital frontline services to Westminster this Thursday (November 17) when they join forces with other south east councils to warn of a £300million shortfall across the region.

Kent County Council will be part of a joint lobby of south east authorities, who will say that the elderly, children and vulnerable will suffer if ministers do not address their predictions of a massive shortfall in funding.

KCC has already flagged up fears that a change in the way money is allocated to councils could leave it a further £33million out of pocket - on top of £55million it says it as lost under a redistribution of funds.

Finance chiefs say the funding gap represents the equivalent of a ten per cent increase in council tax bills.

Conservative KCC finance chief Cllr Nick Chard said joining forces with other councils made sense and denied it undermined Kent’s plea to be regarded as a "special case" when it came to funding.

He stressed: "There is a lot of common ground and common issues between councils in the south east. Of course, Kent has slightly different issues and places a different emphasis on some of those, like the Government’s house-building programme. But what we are asking for is fairness."

Meanwhile, Kent’s case was debated last week by some of the county’s MPs who tackled local government minister Phil Woolas during an adjournement debate.

Thanet North MP Roger Gale (Con) said increased numbers of looked-after children, the elderly and asylum seekers had increased the burdens on local councils.

He said: "It has got to be wrong that one of the most beautiful counties in the country...should also host some of the highest levels of social deprivation not just in the south east but in the country.

East Kent, Thanet and parts of Dover host levels of deprivation that people in the metropolis would find hard to grasp."

But Labour MP for Chatham and Aylesford Jonathan Shaw chided the Tory MPs, saying that they had failed to invest in Kent schools and other key services when they were in power.