Dozens of protesters gathered outside the town hall before the cabinet meeting where cuts were on the agenda.

Holding placards with the words “save our services”, “stop the welfare cuts” and other messages, members of Unison and other groups staged a protest against Government cuts, which Lambeth Council announced will lead to cuts of £37m in the next year alone.

On Saturday, Save Lambeth Libraries, Unison members and residents also staged a protest against the likely closure of libraries.

They gathered outside Brixton library after Lambeth Council announced a £1.2m cut to their cultural services department budget this year.

They highlighted that with the reduction in funding, staff cuts would follow, the mobile library service would be withdrawn and there would be less money for books, fewer events, story sessions and silver surfers groups.

Residents are now being urged to sign the Save Lambeth Libraries petition on ipetitions.com/petition/ savelambethlibraries.