A SOUTH Lakeland District Council shake-up will result in some job losses, redundancies and potentially service cuts, the chief executive of the authority has admitted.

The upheaval is the result of a review of services carried out by an independent economic expert on behalf of the council, which will be considered by the authority next week.

The review carried out last year by consultant Anna Capaldi compares 15 of SLDC's most expensive services, including car parks, waste collection, public conveniences, pest control and tourism and tourist information centres, to another 19 comparable district councils in the country.

But despite reassurances some staff are bracing themselves for bad news.

In an exclusive interview with The Westmorland Gazette chief executive of SLDC Mike Jones admitted job losses and service cuts could not be ruled out.

Mr Jones refused to pin point services that would be hardest hit ahead of next Wednesday's meeting, when the cabinet will prioritise the shake-up. The meeting is closed to the press and public, but both will be informed of the outcome of the meeting.

He said that the review would allow the authority to consider its future whether it should be a provider of services, an enabler letting another body run services on its behalf or both.