1,000 staff consider Dumfries and Galloway Council exit

Hundreds of council staff have expressed an interest in leaving their jobs with the authority

More than 1,000 staff have expressed an interest in voluntary redundancy or early retirement at a Scottish council.

It equates to about one in every eight employees with the Dumfries and Galloway authority.

The council launched the consultation in a bid to try to meet an estimated savings target of £20m next year.

Workers must decide whether or not to apply for the terms being offered and the council will then have to determine if it can agree to the request.

Councillors approved the "severance" scheme for staff in September in an effort to reduce spending.

However, they were warned that compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out, no matter how many people volunteered to leave the authority.

The deadline for the voluntary scheme expired last month and a total of 1,018 workers expressed an interest.

The authority employs more than 8,000 staff in the equivalent of 6,300 full-time posts.

The council has already emphasised that there is no "right" to leave for anyone who makes an application and any decisions will be based on business need.