CASH-strapped council chiefs have been warned that they face another year of spending cuts.

The election of a Labour government will not mean that Bolton Council will be able to relax its tight budget controls.

The stark warning was made by Steve Arnfield, director of finance, to a meeting of the council's management and finance committee.

He said: "All the indications so far are that it is still going to be tight. We are facing a similar sort of position as last year."

In March, council chiefs made £7.1 million cuts, the biggest in the local authority's history.

Mr Arnfield added: "What we don't know about at the moment is the position on capping.

"If the Government does lift capping limits, then we will face a choice between how large the council's budget will be and how large the council tax will be.

"But whatever happens, we do have to recognise that the difficult financial position is likely to continue."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.