FINANCIAL difficulties at the borough’s leisure trust will see a £200,000 council bail-out and job cuts at leisure centres.

Fewer people spending money on the facilities is said to have left the arms-length company that runs the borough’s leisure services in a position where it needs to make £320,000 in savings.

Cuts will be found through reduced staffing levels but could also see scaled-back leisure services at facilities such as Hyndburn and Mercer Hall leisure centres.

No detail has been revealed as yet on whether the proposed ‘staffing reductions’ will take the form of redundancies.

Hyndburn Borough Council has agreed a two-phase ‘recovery plan’ giving £100,000 to the trust before the end of the month.

Phase one will also see £220,000 in savings made with staff reductions this month.

A further £100,000 from the council and further staffing reductions form phase two of the plan.

Funds will be repaid to the council over the next 10 years.

The details of the recovery plan will be scrutinised by ‘watchdog’ councillors at a meeting next week.

In a report to go before councillors, the plan is described as ‘creating a leaner, more effective trust’.

The news comes three years after Hyndburn Council last had to bail out the trust, after it ran up debts of more than £300,000.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: “The trust has steep competition to content with from private leisure companies. Councils have always had to support their leisure services and it is no surpirse that this is needed now. How they make their savings will be up to the trust but it seems fair to say redundancies will be likely.”

Leisure In Hyndburn was unable to provide a comment.