BANKRUPTCY may still befall Somerset Council during the current financial year, one of its unitary councillors has warned.

Green Party group leader Cllr Dave Mansell, from Wiveliscombe, said the £100 million budget gap with which the council was currently struggling could double to £200 million for the next financial year.

He said it was still possible the authority would have to issue a section 114 bankruptcy notice before next February’s budget setting.

Cllr Mansell made his comments at a meeting of Wellington Without Parish Council, which is in the Upper Tone division he represents.

He said the Liberal Democrat-run Somerset authority was going through difficult, indeed, ‘desperate’ times and many staff would become redundant.

Cllr Mansell said shedding staff was the only real solution with perhaps 25 per cent, or about 1,200 individuals, leaving employment, some of whom might be among the more experienced officers.

He said protecting statutory services, those which the council was legally bound to deliver, could have a significant negative impact on other services, but they would remain where possible.

Somerset councillors have agreed a transformation programme intended to result in a smaller, leaner council delivering fewer services to put it back on a sound financial footing.

The council balanced its books for this year by also agreeing to make cut £35 million cuts to services such as public toilets, CCTV, and recycling centres, taking nearly £37 million from its reserves, and gaining Government approval to sell off nearly £80 million of assets to cover day to day bills.