£50m cuts fear for city council

The cutbacks so far have seen services affected in Aberdeen

Aberdeen City Council faces having to make almost double the £27m savings forecast, BBC Scotland can reveal.

In a report for a worst-case scenario by the council's chief accountant, the gross savings total almost £50m.

Measures being considered include a freeze on recruitment and halting major capital projects.

The controversial plans to make the £27m of savings meant school closures and major cuts in services, leading to public protest.

The authority, run by a Liberal Democrat-SNP coalition, needs to make the savings to balance its books.

Tommy Campbell, of the T&G Unite union, told BBC Scotland: "It's absolutely disgraceful, financial madness. It's a sad state of affairs.

How on earth did Aberdeen City Council get into this mess? Anne Begg Aberdeen South MP

"Questions have to be asked. It's a serious crisis for the council."

He said it could mean "serious job losses" and that many people were "sick" of working for the council.

Labour councillor Yvonne Allan said: "The council is going from bad to worse, it's a mess.

"If push comes to shove the place could go bankrupt."

Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen South said: "This is a huge black hole in the council's finances and represents 15% of Aberdeen's total budget.

"How on earth did Aberdeen City Council get into this mess? The original figure was bad enough and represented a huge cut in services. This new figure represents swinging cuts and will seriously affect frontline services."

Aberdeen City Council said in a statement there was nothing new in the figures and that it had always been entirely transparent about the savings.

A critical report from the Accounts Commission earlier this year said the council faced "extremely serious" challenges.

The cutbacks have led to months of protests in Aberdeen.