Extra £20m may go from Worcestershire County Council budget

An extra £20m could have to be cut from Worcestershire County Council's budget.

The Conservative-led authority had set itself a target of saving £70m by 2014.

It said uncertainty over future government grants meant it voted through plans to increase the savings to at least £90m, extending the time frame to the end of 2016-17.

Council leader Adrian Hardman said it was an "internal estimate". Opposition Labour group leader Peter McDonald expressed "shock and horror".

'Awful lot more'

Asked where the axe was going to fall to save the extra money, Mr Hardman said: "That far out I can't actually specify at this moment."

He also said: "We would anticipate making these savings targets by the end of financial year 16, 17, so we're projecting quite a lot further out than we were before.

"I'm convinced that we can still do an awful lot more by just straightforward efficiency at county hall."

The redundancies of two senior council officers were agreed on Thursday, which would save the authority about £300,000 a year, Mr Hardman added.

Mr McDonald said: "The only way this council can save money is by sacking people.

"If you sack people, you haven't got the people to carry out the services.

"So if you sack people, you're in a way sacking the services."