140,000 council jobs face axe in next year

The "unexpected severity" of the first-year cuts means councils will have to trim their budgets by an average of 11 per cent in 2011/12, said the Local Government Association.

Some authorities will also have to deal with the "difficult impact" of the loss of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which channelled 450m to different parts of the country.

The association called on the Government to ease the effect of reductions in next month's local government finance settlement so that councils could spread the cuts over the next four years.

Its chairman, Baroness Eaton, said: "We cut more than 1bn from our budgets in the middle of this year, rolled up our sleeves and got on with the job. But the unexpected severity of the cuts that will have to be made next year will put many councils in an unprecedented and difficult position.

"No council cuts jobs lightly, but many are being left with no choice. Some jobs will go in natural wastage, not filling vacancies and voluntary redundancy.

"However, we cannot escape the fact that some losses will be dedicated professional posts that, given a choice, councils would not want to see go. These are the tough choices we are going to have to make."

Unions have attacked the scale of job losses announced already in scores of councils, saying the figure had already passed the 50,000 mark.