REDDITCH Borough Council could run out of money in two years unless "urgent action" is taken, an auditor's report has warned.

According to the report, the council is set to be "spending £30,000 a week more than it receives" from 2021.

Acknowledging that finances are in a "mess," council leader Mathew Dormer has stressed that job losses are "always a last resort," but said that current vacancies are not going to be filled.

He said: "We have got to save £1.2 million this year.

"This isn't something that has creeped up on people. I knew we were in problems last year.

"The warning signs were there for some years before and the opposition group needed to take difficult decisions.

"We have also had six million pounds worth of cuts."

The auditor's report says that "the council needs to take urgent action to prevent both its General Fund and HRA balances being exhausted by the end of 2020/21."

It also highlights that "failure to take effective action will put the council at risk of breaching its statutory duty to set a balanced budget."

The leader stressed that the council has be more "commercially driven" in order to combat these problems.

He added: "We provide services we don't need to provide and they cost us a lot of money.

"I'm not saying we are going to cut them but they need to be more commercially driven."

The leader says he is "confident" that the financial problems can be sorted out.