COUNCILLORS will be asked to sign a Valentine’s Day card to show how much they care about local services ahead of a crunch meeting this week.

Members of Dorset County Council meet on Thursday at County Hall in Dorchester to vote on the latest round of cuts to services and will be greeted by representatives from the Unison union as they arrive.

They will encourage councillors to sign the card to show publicly that they will vote against the £10.9million of savings proposed.

The move comes after members of Unison joined a protest march in Dorchester at the weekend.

Pamela Jefferies, Dorset branch secretary for Unison said: “Unison is inviting councillors to take a stand against more cuts and show their support for staff and services by voting against the budget proposals.

“The local community gave us lots of support on Saturday when we marched through Dorchester and Poundbury.

“They made it clear that they don’t think austerity is working.

“Whether it is the elderly or young, people don’t want services to keep being rationed, they want quality services now.

“The public are tired of hearing worn out excuses of how the poorest and most vulnerable in society must pay for the mistakes of the most wealthy and powerful bankers.

“People don’t like what is being done in their name and told us so on Saturday.

“The public know these services are not luxuries, they are the essential services that help people live quality lives.”