THE tax cuts and hikes expected in today’s emergency Budget aroused strong reactions from people we spoke to in Dorset and the New Forest.

A one-year freeze in council tax would be popular but the predicted rise in VAT to 20 per cent was a turn-off.

Chancellor George Osborne will pull the exact details from the famous red box today, but the Echo asked people yesterday about the predicted plans.

Thomas Greir, 26, a marketing manager from Muscliffe, said: “The council tax freeze is a good one. If you saw the money being put to decent use I would agree with paying more but what do they do with it?”

Pensioner Maureen Flynn from West Moors, a retired shop owner, said: “It’s a good idea. The councils are managing with what they have got now, so they don’t need to raise it every year.”

Most were worried about the expected VAT increase. Judith Tett, 65, from Throop, said: “Everything will go up – fuel, food, shopping, the whole lot.”

Mark Aitkins, 46, from Boscombe, welcomed the idea of a one-year public sector pay freeze, saying: “Everyone I know who works in the public sector seems to earn a lot and have good pension schemes.” He also said a decision not to reduce petrol duty could force people to use alternative transport.

Nursery worker Laura Masson, 22, from Muscliffe, commented on the expected rise in aeroplane fuel duty.

“It’s a bit ridiculous,” she said. “Holidays are already getting more expensive. It’s one little thing that we look forward to.”

Mats Larsson, 50, a writer from the East Cliff, said that £27bn public spending cuts would not be enough and that the NHS and welfare benefits were two areas that needed more cuts.

Suzanne England-Hawkins, 59, from West Moors, said a freeze in welfare benefits was too general. “It’s too drastic,” she said. “It does need to be reviewed, but benefits are down to individual cases.”