NINETY staff at Burnley Council are facing the axe as part of a bid to save the town hall £2million.

Council bosses have said redundancies 'will hit services'.

But opposition councillors said frontline services must be protected, including neighbourhood management officers, street cleaners and anti-social behaviour workers.

The cuts amount to 15 per cent of the workforce.

An additional 30 jobs, part of the council’s ‘clean team’ operation will be transferred to the borough’s waste partner, Veolia, in a bid to reduce the number of positions lost.

The news is set to be consulted upon with the unions and staff over the coming weeks, The council said the cuts must be made, even ahead of the government’s spending review announcement on October 22.

Council leader Coun Charlie Briggs said: “We all recognise that reductions in Burnley’s budget will have an impact on the services that people receive.

“There are no easy choices or pain-free ways of making the changes necessary to balance the books.

“I personally find it very hard to have to start the discussions with those staff whose jobs are at risk. Money worries like that are extremely stressful.

“I know because I’ve been through it, and I am deeply upset about it. This is not an easy process for the council, and we are clear about the need to support the staff who are directly affected.”

Coun Briggs said the council had been making efficiencies of around £1million annually for the past few years, as part of ongoing savings work.

He blamed the previous Labour government for borrowing too heavily and not acting quickly enough to stem the banking crisis.

Town hall bosses are still waiting to hear if further cuts will have to be made when they learn of their official settlement from Whitehall in under three weeks time.

Around 35 posts were funded through short-term programmes, some of which have seen funding removed by the government. These positions are expected to go by March.

Senior Labour councillor Howard Baker said: “This is the first that I have heard about this. It is always a tragedy when any jobs are lost.

“If frontline staff can be protected, and I hope we don’t lose any or our clean team or anti-social behaviour officers. Neighbourhood management is another important area.”

Proposals will also be put before the council’s citizens panel and cabinet meeting will be held in November and December to debate the changes.

The budget will be drawn up by February and any job cuts will be expected to come into force after April.