'Desperation and despair': Barnsley's long battle with austerity

Struggling Yorkshire town has endured crippling council cuts - but locals are fighting back

That Barnsley is the British city worst affected by a near-decade of austerity cuts comes as no surprise to Susan Round, 61, owner of the Pats for Pants underwear stall in the town centre's covered markets. "I do think it has got worse. The state of the roads. Social care. The hospitals. Antisocial behaviour. Spice."

According to the Centre for Cities thinktank, Barnsley council spending has reduced by 40% over eight years - around four times the average reduction faced by cities in the south-east - since the coalition decided in 2010 that local government would bear the brunt of austerity and the poorest boroughs would shoulder the biggest cuts.

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