Bradford council says 700 jobs under threat

A council has announced nearly 700 jobs are under threat following the latest round of budget cuts.

Bradford Council has said it must find £115m of savings by 2017 as a result of reduced government funding.

Draft proposals due to be discussed next week reveal as many as 696 full time jobs are at risk. A final decision will not be made until February.

A council spokesperson said: "[We are doing] everything we can to avoid compulsory redundancies."

Members of the council's Executive will meet on 5 November to discuss the draft budget proposals.

Under the proposals the equivalent of about 402 posts could be axed in 2014-15 and a further 293 in 2015-16.

The council said it has already made savings of £100m over the past three years, including shedding 1,500 jobs, of which about 60 were made through compulsory redundancy.

A public consultation has begun to give people the chance to have their say on the budget proposals.