SOME £740,000 worth of cuts have been identified at Burnley Council - but a further £660,000 needs to be found to balance the books.

More than a dozen posts will be axed across a range of council departments, as finance chiefs aim to deliver a balanced budget for 2008/09.

Only the management team and the borough's markets have been exempted from the axe, according to a report to Burnley Council.

The hardest-hit section appears to be the revenue and benefits section, where £180,000 worth of savings have been identified.

No fewer than five vacancies will not be filled - including two benefits support roles and posts for a clerical assistant, visiting officer and a property inspector.

Overtime budgets for a range of services, from the parks department to bereavement services, are being slashed.

Reductions to the Over 50s service have yielded around £10,000 and a deal to lease part of the Prairie playing fields for a commercial football venture has provided a £5,000 boost.

Extra rent from Padiham Town Hall, totalling £30,000, has helped to ease the financial burden, as has a new bus station management contract, leading to a £27,000 saving.

Another £12,000 has been recouped from providing health and safety services to Rossendale Council.

The major forseeable cuts will take place in the leisure and recreation division, where £175,000 worth of savings must be found, and the green spaces and amenities department, where £156,000 of savings need to be identified.

People living in Burnley have already signalled their unease at proposals to axe the bowling greens at Towneley Park.

Council bosses are awaiting the results of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, which will reveal how much the authority will receive in its annual grant.

"It is expected to be about £11.4million.

Resources director Nick Aves says in a report to councillors: "The provisional settlement announcement is expected in early December, with the final decision due to be confirmed at the end of January."