CORONAVIRUS will force Hyndburn Council £1million into the red by March 31.

Borough leader Cllr Miles Parkinson revealed the deficit to members of the authority's Cabinet yesterday.

He said that without Covid-19 the council would have recorded 'a substantial surplus as it was in every years since 2005/2005'.

A report told the Cabinet: "The spend for the first six months of the financial year to the end of September 2020 is £6,894,000 compared to a budget of £6,522,000 giving an adverse variance of £372,000/

"The current forecast spend to the end of the financial year in March 2020 is £12,193,000 compared to a budget of £11,227,000.

"This forecast produces an adverse variance of £966,000. This is attributable to the impact of Covid-19 on the council’s financial position."

Cllr Parkinson said the officers would do all they could to to reduce the deficit but that its causes were beyond the council's control.