NEARLY 40 jobs will be lost over the next three years as Fife Council looks to save money on its open spaces workforce.

The number of workers who help keep parks, streets and other spaces clean and safe will be cut down by around 12 each year, resulting in up to 36 jobs disappearing in a bid to save around £2.25million.

A further £1.89m is expected to be saved by increasing the amount of street sweeping that gets done mechanically – replacing human jobs with machinery.

The news comes after the council published its final budget two weeks ago, which sees cuts being made almost everywhere in an attempt to plug the gaping £77m hole it is faced with.

However, despite the need to save money by losing jobs, Fife Council insists that it will try to avoid compulsory redundancies.

Instead, it will attempt to manage the losses by not hiring replacements when workers retire or move on.

Damien Woods, parks, streets and open spaces service manager, said, “As a result of smarter and leaner ways of working we’re looking to reduce our workforce by approximately 12 full-time posts every year over the next three years.

"This will be done as far as possible on a voluntary basis through ‘natural wastage’, for example, managing vacancies and people retiring.

“In keeping with council policy, we will be seeking to avoid any compulsory redundancies.”