91Èȱ¬

About 1,000 jobs could go at Leicester City Council in an effort to save tens of millions of pounds.

The authority has confirmed it is having to cut £7.7m from this year's budget and estimates it will have to find £100m in savings by 2015.

The ruling Labour group admitted this meant one in seven posts are threatened but insisted their hands were tied due to government grants being cut.

The initial impact will be on transport projects but schools will be protected.

Pay freeze

Council leader Vijay Patel said it was never easy making cuts, adding: "The picture over the next four years is looking very, very, severe and our real terms estimate is around £100m worth of cuts.

"We have to work very hard to make sure this does not impact hugely on the level of services.

"The people it is going to impact mostly on is the vulnerable and the poorest of families."

Savings, mainly from cancelling projects and a pay freeze, mean there will be few job losses this year, officials said.

'Strained relationship'

Ross Wilmott said this showed services could be maintained.

"It will have an effect but it goes to show you can make some fairly significant reductions if you have to with the minimum impact.

"The biggest areas being affected are certain areas of children's services and transport but in terms of service impact I think they are fairly minimal."

Mike Brown, from Unison, said: "No-one is under any illusions about the challenges ahead - there were no happy faces round the table when this was discussed.

"And while it's going to put a strain on our relationship with the council, we accept they are not in a position they want to be."