ANOTHER 18 posts are set to be axed by Burnley Council - but savings of more than £300,000 are still needed to balance the books and tackle a £3million financial black hole.

Council bosses have even clawed back £500,000 from their reserves as they look to set a budget for 2015-16, amid ongoing Whitehall austerity measures. Thirty jobs were axed last year.

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An extra £25,000 will also be recouped from some of Burnley and Padiham’s poorest residents, as the lower level for a council tax support scheme is raised from 12.5 per cent, for 2015-16 to 17.5 per cent for 2016-17.

Council leader Coun Mark Townsend said: “Yet again the council needs to find unprecedented savings to remain financially sustainable while, at the same time, protecting and continuing to provide high quality services to its residents.

“We have some very tough decisions to make in the light of continuing Government austerity cuts to the amount of money it gives us. We’re being put in a very difficult position by the Government and there is still work to do to close the budget gap.

“We plan our budgets well in advance so we are well prepared for what is to come. We have to look at every pound we spend across the council and plan for the future, putting into place measures that will mitigate, as much as possible, the effect these massive budget cuts will have.”

The authority has also saved £350,000 from re-tendering the borough’s waste contract and £49,000 by shifting the council tax relief on various classes of empty home.

Each councillor has been told that their ward opportunities fund payout - to support small-scale neighbourhood projects, will be cut by a third, or £49,500, and the borough will be paying £10,000 less to Lancashire County Council for running.

Helen Seechurn, the council’s resources director, added: “The council, in response to the Government austerity programme, is preparing for significant changes.

“The scale of the challenge requires radical transformation and reconfiguration of council services and a strategic reassessment of priorities. To respond to such a challenge, careful planning, consultation and implementation are required.”