Ashby councillor Nick Rushton was among a group of Conservative MPs and county councillors from Leicestershire who met with the Chancellor earlier this week.

The meeting was to discuss the county council's tough financial situation and was held at Number 11 Downing Street.

The Leicestershire officials met with Jeremy Hunt to discuss fairer funding for the area in the face of a £135 million financial black hole.

Leicestershire County Council announced in June last year that it was facing a frightening financial situation, with soaring inflation, energy prices and war in Ukraine hitting budgets hard.

The predicted shortfall in the council's finances has worsened from £70m four years ago to £135m by September 2022.

A number of cuts were announced by the council in the face of this.

Reductions to bus services, road repairs, street lighting bills and a number of job losses were announced by the authority as part of this year's budget.

Council tax rises were also announced, seeing a fiver per cent increase to their share of the annual bill for Leicestershire residents.

Cllr Rushton - leader of Leicestershire County Council - expressed his gratitude to the MPs for organising the meeting with the Chancellor.

He added: "It gave us the opportunity to put the case for a fairer funding deal for Leicestershire, the lowest funded county in the country, directly to the top of Government.

"We're proud to provide excellent, value for money services to our residents and are one of the most efficient and top performing councils, despite our financial situation.

"We'll be meeting up with Lee Rowley, the Minister for Local Government, and look forward to progressing our work with him to achieve a better funding outcome for Leicestershire."

Six county MPs took the issue up with the Chancellor and met with Mr Hunt in December last year, calling for fairer funding for the cash-strapped council.

Talks have since progressed and the group were invited to Downing Street to present their proposals to the Chancellor and ask the Government to review their funding formula.

In a joint statement, the six Leicestershire MPs – Alicia Kearns, Neil O'Brien, Luke Evans, Edward Argar, Alberto Costa and Jane Hunt – said: "We were very pleased to assist in organising for Leicestershire County Council to meet with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss a fairer funding arrangement for Leicestershire.

"Conservative-led Leicestershire County Council has done a fantastic job in delivering an efficient and excellent service for the people of Leicestershire; however, it is important that the county receives its fair share of funding and we remain committed to supporting them".

Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, added further: "We are the only council that I'm aware of whose MPs have secured a meeting with the Chancellor.

"Leicestershire County Council is currently the lowest-funded county council per head in England, creating a postcode lottery for residents and significant budget pressures for councillors.

"At our meeting we urged the Chancellor to address this imbalance, discussing a fairer funding arrangement for Leicestershire so we receive the fair deal we deserve."