A BID by Darlington Borough Council to save nearly £5m on next year’s budget will lead to the loss of 60 jobs, of which just over half are currently filled.

The authority proposes to raise council tax by 3.5 per cent and is planning a number of other savings, though officers say the cuts will have a minimal effect on services.

A council tax rise of 4.9 per cent was initially projected for 2009-10, but cabinet members felt this would be too hard on people in uncertain times.

A total of 35 jobs will go, which the council hopes will be through natural wastage and voluntary redundancy, though Paul Wildsmith, director of corporate services, said some compulsory redundancies might be unavoidable.

He said: “The cuts will be across the boards from all departments.

I don’t think it would be right to give any indication of where they’re coming from now.

“We hope to work with the trade unions to re-deploy staff and we’ll work very hard to minimise compulsory redundancies.”

It is expected the job cuts will be completed by the summer.

Other areas of savings include an increase in car parking charges; reduced opening hours for Head of Steam museum and Eastbourne sports complex; closure and demolition of South Park aviary; closure of public toilets in Heighington, Middleton One Row and Cockerton; charging for cycle and pedestrian training; the closure of the Mayor’s charity shop.

Officers pointed out that the authority was still looking to carry out £100m of capital projects.

Chief executive Ada Burns said the authority was one of the best in the country for delivering value for money and had the lowest council tax in the North-East. She said it was having to make the cuts for a number of reasons, many related to the global credit crunch.

The council was having difficulty selling off unwanted land, and cuts in interest rates meant council investments were losing money. Increased costs related to inflation also had an impact on the budget.

However, the biggest cost was unforeseen demands on council services.

Ms Burns said: “This has been a very difficult budget.

There’s been some very difficult choices in here, choices that have been hard for us to make.

“There’s been some unprecedented changes in terms of demand for services and a hard economic climate.”

The budget plan goes before the cabinet on Wednesday before going out to consultation.

It will then come back to the cabinet for any amendments before being voted on by the full council on February 26.