RURAL areas such as North Herefordshire should get a fairer deal from the government, MP Bill Wiggin has told the prime minister.

Mr Wiggin met David Cameron at Westminster the same day that the Local Government Settlement was announced, which showed that Herefordshire faces another year of cuts, with more than £6 million being cut in 2014/15.

However, extra funding for rural authorities of £9.5million has been included in the settlement, which has given Herefordshire an extra £598,000 a year for the next two years.

Mr Wiggin said: “During my meeting with the Prime Minister, I raised the Local Government Settlement which I don’t think is generous enough to rural communities, especially Herefordshire which is already struggling.

“I also raised modulation of the Single Farm Payment as my concern is that farmers will get less money than they need from Europe, just when we need to keep British farmers on a level playing field.

“I am also greatly concerned about the unfairness of financing for rural schools as urban schools still receive far more per capita.

“The Prime Minister told me I would be pleasantly surprised in the New Year, although we will have to wait to see how things are finally decided.

“I felt it was helpful for the Prime Minister to know that people in rural communities are looking to this government to balance fairly every penny they spend so the bias against rural communities is brought to an end.”