More than 120 quangos will be axed as part of government plans to cut public spending by £35bn a year by 2011.

Revealing some of his plans, ahead of the pre-budget announcement later this week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown also said that the government aims to cut consultancy bills by a half during the next two years.

The government expects to save more than £650m by axing work that it gives out to consultancies, while the abolition of 123 of the 752 quangos is estimated to deliver a saving of £500m a year.

Further details of the cuts are expected to be made on 9 December, when chancellor Alistair Darling will deliver his pre-budget statement.

Speaking in London today, Gordon Brown said: "We live in an age of expanding opportunity in which rapid technological advances are changing our world at a speed and scale not witnessed since the industrial revolution.

"This provides us with the means to deliver public services in a way that maintains their quality but brings down their cost."