Business, council and training leaders in Oxfordshire gave a mixed reaction to Chancellor Gordon Brown's pre-Budget report.

Mr Brown said there would be no going back on public spending promises delivered earlier in the year.

He admitted public finances would plunge £20bn into debt this year -- £9bn more than he predicted at the last Budget in April.

And he warned firefighters and other public sector workers that big wage demands would not be tolerated.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell said he feared job losses if firefighters' shift patterns were changed.

He added: "We are the employers who have to thrash it out -- the Government would like nothing better than for us to pick up the pieces."

The Chancellor confirmed £8bn more a year for local authorities by 2006 with £15bn more a year for education, £63bn more a year for public services, and £41bn more a year for health by 2008.

Mr Mitchell said: "The question is how the cake is cut between the councils, and I am very cautious what it means for the south and how much is given to the north."

Bill McCardle, Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce policy manager, said he was disappointed that Mr Brown had not found extra cash to fund the transport network

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