Cuts are at the forefront of the pledges made by Conservatives as their launched their manifesto ahead of the council election next week.

Following their defeat in 2010, Enfield Conservatives say they plan to cut the number of councillors from 63 to 42 as well as reduce council tax over the next four years if they win at the May 22 elections.

Conservative group leader Michael Lavender and fellow candidates Terry Neville and Robert Hayward spoke to the press as the party launched its manifesto last week.

The party also wants to reform the residents priority fund, which Cllr Lavendar described as a "cottage industry", adding: “You cannot have a system where people scratch their heads thinking of projects to spend the money on, such as folk dancing classes and other rubbish.”

Cllr Lavender also went onto to suggest that the party would distribute the money between each ward.

Cllr Lavender admitted that the Tory manifesto is not dissimilar to that of its Labour counterparts, but believes Conservatives will deliver developments faster.

He said: “Our theme is cutting the cost of politics. Any administration that is coming in will need to make more savings than it thought and there is a budget gap of £35million for the next year, which is a lot of money.

“Developments at Meridian Water and Ladderswood are very important and we feel Labour should have been quicker bringing these up to speed. There has been a lack of progress which is appalling.”

Cllr Neville believes that the Conservatives are being “ambitious” and making believes more savings can be made.

He said: “A one per cent cut in council tax will come just short of £1million. We have got to ensure a far better collection of council tax and debts. We need to take a harder line on people not paying. We also need to reduce by better management the levels of sick leave of our staff which is at 8 and a half days per year on average, which is shocking.”

Mr Lavender also revealed that he was confident of reclaiming Enfield Council and said: “There are some very marginal wards indeed and with the number of independent candidates that are standing it's going to be very exciting.”