Herefordshire Council cuts: More jobs could go

About 100 more jobs could be lost at Herefordshire Council in a bid to balance the authority's budget.

The council has already cut 280 posts in the past two years and said there are now "likely to be more" as it tries to save £36m over the next three years.

Philip Price, deputy leader of the council, said 100 job loses would be "the ballpark figure".

More than 100 people turned out earlier for a meeting held by Unison at Hereford Town Hall to discuss the news.

Unison said it would fight any further job cuts.

'Forensic examination'

Steve Akers, from the union, said morale among council staff was low because they were being asked to do "more and more with less and less of them".

"We have asked the council for the draft budget and all relevant financial documents because we want to do a forensic examination at our head office of their finances to see where other savings could be made to avoid this," he said.

A three-week public consultation by the Conservative-controlled council on where cuts could be made ended on 31 January.

Proposed cuts include reducing opening hours for customer service centres and libraries, the withdrawal of some public transport routes, delaying major infrastructure projects and reducing the funding available to support tourism.

Mr Price said: "We've already taken £21m out of the budget and that is what you might describe as the fat of the council."

He warned there could be a further 20% cut across every area that the council spends money on.