MILLIONS of pounds in redundancy payments has been forked out to council workers over the last two years.

The figures have been revealed as Blackburn with Darwen Council published its final statement of accounts for 2017/18 after an external audit was completed.

Last year, the council laid off 101 workers - 30 compulsory and 71 voluntary redundancies - with payoffs totalling £1.25 million in council cash.

About half of the money was doled out to 85 relatively low-paid workers, with £632,000 of the redundancy money going to people falling into the £0-£20,000 banding.

Staff who earned between £20,001-£40,000 split £477,000 between the 13 of them who were made redundant during the course of the year.

And three workers earning between £40,001-£60,000 were paid £142,000 in redundancy payoffs between them.

Total redundancy payments fell by almost £1m from 2016/17, when £2.157m in cash was doled out to workers who lost their jobs.

In 2016/17, there were 154 redundancies in total with 26 being compulsory and 128 voluntary.

Two workers who were paid between £100,001-£150,000 accounted for £245,000 of the payouts, while £779,000 was split between the 121 staff who fell into the £0-£20,000 banding.

More than £500,000 was paid out to 19 staff earning between £20,001-£40,000 while 10 workers paid between £40,001-£60,000 accounted for £472,000 of the redundancy payouts.

Two employees who earned between £60,001-£80,000 were paid £140,000 in redundancy money between them.

The total cost of an exit package includes all relevant redundancy costs – compulsory and voluntary.

Pension contributions in respect of added years are included, as well as ex gratia payments.

The figures also include other departure costs such as pay in lieu of notice and outstanding holiday pay.

In 2015/16, £1.926m was paid out in redundancy cash to 166 council employees who lost their jobs.

And in 2014/15, payouts amounting to £2.184m were split between the 184 workers who were made redundant over the course of the year.

In 2013/14, 2.917m was paid to 200 staff who lost their jobs, while £2.441m in redundancy payments was forked out between 109 employees in 2012/13.