Ed Miliband has launched Labour's campaign for council elections in England, saying the party will be the 'first line of defence' against unfair cuts to local services.

The Labour leader warned that reductions to local authority budgets will hit the poorest communities hardest and promised his party will stand up for those affected acting as the public's 'voice in tough times'.

Voters will go to the polls on 5 May with more than 9,500 council seats being contested in 279 local authorities across England along with the national referendum on the future of the UK electoral system. There will also be elections for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Although Labour has won two by-elections since Mr Miliband became leader in September, next month's elections will be the first major national test for the party and is expected to change the balance of power within the Local Government Association.

' Labour launches our election campaign with a clear pledge to people across the country,'Mr Miliband said at the official launch of the campaign at a school in Birmingham and publication of its manifesto: Your voice in tough times

' Families in every part of the country will be hit by these unfair cuts,' he said.' Areas with the greatest need are being asked to bear the greatest burden. The worst-off areas are being hit the hardest while the average family will be hit much harder than people in David Cameron's constituency.

' Labour will be your community's first line of defence against the damage being done by a Conservative-led Government and their Liberal Democrat allies. Labour's record is clear: Labour councils cost you less, with council tax bills on average £207 lower than Tory authorities.'

Earlier Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the party's policy on council tax-capping was under review and said councils should do' all they can to protect some of the vital services they have'.

' It is nonsense for the Prime Minister to somehow say Labour councils are making politically-motivated cuts to services,'he claimed.'They are making efficiency savings and they are doing their very,very best to protect services that people really value and that contribute to social justice in this country.'