Hundreds planning to quit council

Staff are expected to hear news in the near future

Aberdeen City Council has said it has received hundreds of applications for voluntary redundancy or early retirement.

The applications have come since major budget cuts were announced.

Tommy Campbell of the T&G Unite union said they were not being processed quickly enough.

However the council said a trade union dispute led to delays, and that offers were likely to be made to staff in the "near future".

An expert group is helping the council tackle its financial problems.

They have told the local authority that significant redundancies will have to be made to claw back the £49.7m of savings needed.

The cutbacks have led to months of public protests.