Bradford Council leader David Green has warned that the district faces “stark and difficult” choices affecting the local services as the authority tries to find £88m savings in two years.

Coun Green has said no services will be safe under cuts and is now urging residents to come forward with their own ideas about where money should be saved.

The running of parks, allotments and leisure facilities are just some of the jobs which could possibly be handed over to volunteers.

The council is asking the public to say where they think £38 million of cuts should be made to its budget next year and £50 million the year after as part of the large-scale consultation.

Coun Green refused to be drawn on where he personally thought the cuts should be made, saying: “We have stark and difficult choices to make. I can’t say anything is safe when you are taking 25 per cent out of the budget in three years.

“People need to recognise the reality of the situation and take part in this debate.”

But Worth Valley councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Tory group, rubbished claims that services would have to go and said the council needed to “think more imaginatively”.

He said ideas like outsourcing more work and sharing more services with neighbours had been lifted from the Conservatives’ budget of two years ago, when they had even suggested having a shared chief executive.

Coun Miller said by outsourcing work like gardening and building maintenance to private firms, the authority could save between £2 million and £5 million a year.

And he said the council’s £500,000 union subsidy should also be axed.

Coun Miller said he had asked senior officers to provide him with a list of services the government said they had to provide and those which were optional.

He said: “In the budgets, 90 per cent of the work is done by officers. I think there is empire-building, with these officers seeking to continue to expand their empires.”

To take part in the consultation, visit bradford.gov.uk/budget.