A massive £8.3 million is being stashed away by Poole council in its general reserves, boosted by £3.4m not spent last year.

But the “rainy day” money has been attacked by Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Mike Brooke, who accused the Conservative administration of poor planning and management.

The £3.433m surplus in the 2009/10 financial year, which includes a £500,000 underspend in children’s social care, has been added to unearmarked reserves.

Cllr Brooke said the 2.9 per cent council tax raised £2.78m. “It could be argued they didn’t spend any of that money they took off the public,” he said.

“The money is just going to sit there. What have we been doing? Robbing residents to stash it away in a bank account.”

However Borough of Poole council leader Cllr Brian Leverett defended the level of reserves in the general pot.

“The government has made it clear that the public sector will face a significant reduction in funding in the coming years,” he said.

“To protect frontline services through these difficult times ahead, it is sensible and prudent to set aside money now to support essential capital or revenue projects from which the government has withdrawn funds.”

The new government has already slashed Poole’s funding by £2.9m this year, on top of £4m of efficiencies and savings in the 2010/11 budget.

“Our better than expected position for 2009/10 makes it possible to manage the cuts now required in a careful and planned way that will help to minimise disruption to the services we provide to the public over the remainder of this financial year,” said Cllr Leverett.

“It is likely that things will be extremely difficult for the next few years and without the cushion of our reserves the situation would be far worse.”