YOUTH clubs and museums would buckle and fold if the Tories cling on to power, a shocking new report revealed yesterday.

Public-sector union Unison’s Austerity Audit warned that Tory plans to cut a further £26 billion across government departments would have devastating effects on services provided by councils.

Rat-catchers and allotments could also be up for the chop, Unison notes in its savage critique of local government cuts which have seen libraries and fire stations boarded up.

General secretary Dave Prentis issued a stark warning about the disproportionate effect the spending squeeze would have on women.

He said that those fleeing domestic violence were “being turned away because of a shortage of beds” at refuges and that cutbacks on street lights were “plunging communities into darkness.”

In December the Star reported a whopping 1.36 million street lamps were either off or dimmed at night, compared with just 148,000 before the Tories wormed their way into power in 2010.

“If the Tories were to form the next government, the savage cuts they propose could well mean the end of many services that councils are not legally obliged to provide,” Mr Prentis said.

Even so-called statutory provisions, such as children’s services, could collapse if the cuts continue, Unison argued.

“Local communities will be unrecognisable by 2020 if the Conservatives keep the keys to Downing Street.”