Badenoch says she is bringing in lawyers to challenge government after Tory-run council's 94% tax hike

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she has brought in lawyers to challenge the government over local funding cuts, after a record council tax rise in one of her party's flagship local authorities.

She told BBC Newsnight the proposed 94% hike in Wandsworth, a south-west London borough run by the Tories, was "outrageous".

Badenoch said the Conservative Party had "instructed lawyers" to explore if an £84m-a-year government funding cut, which Wandsworth Council has blamed for the increase, can be blocked.

The government has insisted it needs to reform the "outdated" council funding system to move money to where it is most needed.

Wandsworth has long had one of the lowest council tax rates in the country, with an average Band D property currently paying just over £1,000, compared to above £2,000 in an increasing number of London boroughs.

But this would nearly double with the planned £958 rise - half of which is set by the council and the other half the mayor of London.

There has been heavy criticism since the move was announced in a council meeting on Tuesday. A final decision is to be made early next year.

Commenting for the first time on the row, Badenoch accused ministers of seemingly "taking money from areas that don't vote Labour and giving it to places that do vote Labour".