Cutting bin collections to just once a month could be among proposals thrown into the melting pot by one Kent local authority amid the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Canterbury City Council leader Rob Thomas conceded unpopular decisions will have to be made as he admitted jobs will likely be axed at the authority.

And although no concrete proposal is yet on the table, he says services such as waste collections will have to be considered alongside others.

"We've done pretty well managing our budget in recent years in face of cutbacks in government support," he said.

"But if we are not going to be getting the best part of £10 million because of lost revenues, including parking income and difficulties in receiving rents, rates and council tax, then we have a cash flow problem.

"We will have to start deferring capital projects and look at what other non-statutory services we offer.

"For example, while we have a statutory duty to collect refuse, we are not told how frequently. Would the public accept their bins being collected once a month? I have no idea, or whether it would save significant sums of money.

"And should we continue to keep venues like museums shut after lockdown is lifted and whether we have to consult on that?"

Cllr Thomas was speaking to KentOnline as the authority's officers continue to work frantically behind the scenes to prepare a new emergency budget to tackle a drastic drop in income with the crunch meeting due to take place on Thursday, May 28.

Revenue from property rentals, council tax and business rates has dried up, with the the loss of parking fees alone denting council coffers by £175,000 a week.

Already it has said that many of its major capital projects which are not already contracted are likely to be put on hold.

"As a district, we are largely dependent on education, tourism and retail, which are among the hardest-hit sectors, but we just don't know what our income will be in the future,"

But Cllr Thomas also admitted that job losses among its 450 staff are expected to be considered.

"We've been using up our reserves to stabilise past budgets but it's getting to the point where unfortunately a number of redundancies will have to follow," he said.

"Staffing is usually a business's biggest outgoing and the council is no different."

To compensate for loss of funding from central government in recent years, the city council has tried to generate more income locally, largely through parking and commercial property, to help maintain services.

But bosses painted a bleak picture of the authority's finances at a special video conference briefing two weeks ago.

Cllr Thomas suggested that a proposed £12 million move of the authority’s HQ to new offices in Wincheap may now never happen while schemes including the Wincheap park and ride extension and the city centre St George's Street makeover will be frozen.

"As a district, we are largely dependent on education, tourism and retail, which are among the hardest-hit sectors, but we just don't know what our income will be in the future," he said.

"We will have to find creative ways of getting through this otherwise we are going to have a lot of problems, because there are tough times ahead."

Cllr Thomas says the authority has about £20 million in reserves which will help, but be quickly eroded.

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