INVERCLYDE Council could be forced to cut jobs, the local authority leader has warned.

Councillor Stephen McCabe says there may be no other cost-saving option left but to axe posts should the Scottish Government continue to slash its funding.

Earlier this year, former council chief executive John Mundell revealed that £46 million had been wiped from the budget in the last decade, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs.

But Mr McCabe has delivered a stark warning that the local authority could be forced to axe even MORE posts in the coming years to balance the books — with Inverclyde facing a deficit of around £22.5m in the next three years.

That figure could rise to as much as £40m — a fifth of the local authority budget — but the full extent will not be known until the government publishes its draft budget next week.

Councillor McCabe said: “Councils have absorbed job losses as much as they can to protect frontline services — that position may no longer be tenable.”

Council umbrella group COSLA says that a further cut to local government funding could lead to ‘severe consequences’ across the country.

The organisation’s president, Councillor David O’Neill, says around 7,000 jobs were shed last year because of a £350m funding deficit.

Local authority leader Mr McCabe said: “COSLA has highlighted the enormous level of job losses across Scotland and their prediction of more to come depending on the government budget announcement next week.

“This should be a wake-up call to communities across the country.

“In most areas councils are the largest single employer.

“Lost public service jobs in a community means less money coming into homes, could have a negative effect on the local economy, and is yet more pressure piled onto existing services.

“We have operated successful task forces when major employers announce job losses — but nothing on the scale of this.

“It is absolutely right that we do this when jobs are threatened.

“But, the question has to be asked: where is local government’s task force?

“Where are the protests over 7,000 jobs lost to the Scottish economy?”