Dorset branch secretary for public services union Unison Paul Kimber described the scale of the cuts being proposed as ‘immoral’ and warned of a community backlash if services such as libraries were closed.

He said: “The county council is going to have to think long and hard over how they sell these cuts to the most vulnerable in our society.

“Support for the elderly, people with learning disabilities, and library services are community treasures, something that ordinary people have fought for.

“It’s wholly immoral if they are going to take this line and go for more cuts.”

He added: “In my opinion there is also an element of short-termism about this because if you do shut everything there will be a massive public backlash that will demand they are reopened and it’s going to cost an arm and a leg to reopen them.”

Mr Kimber urged the council to put pressure on local MPs to fight for Dorset at Government level and ensure it did not get a rough deal from the funding cuts.

He said: “What the council have got to do is to pull in the Dorset county MPs.

“They are the ones that have been elected to safeguard the people of Dorset. If they are turning their backs on us by saying they can’t do anything more than support these cuts and blame the previous Government, someone has got to say that’s a load of rubbish.”

Campaigner for Wyke Regis library Rosemary Smith said she was ‘concerned’ by the news that the cuts could be even worse than initially feared.