CHESHAM Town Council may have to make staff cuts if it wants to end its contracts to maintain school grounds around the town.

At a meeting of the council's sport and leisure committee on Monday, councillors discussed the option of terminating its contracts with five Chesham schools in a bid to reduce the council's workload.

The option is being considered to allow the council's six-strong workforce to concentrate on other jobs in the town which have fallen behind.

But a report drawn up by council officers said that ending the contracts would lose the council more than £12,500 income which could lead to staff cuts to balance the books.

Cllr Alan Bacon (Lib Dem, Lowndes) said: "We are getting this £12,760 income. If we give up the contracts then we will lose this money. We will have to make staff redundancies and that is something we won't want to do. It's not a very kind thing to do unless we have to."

Mike Kennedy, clerk to Chesham Town Council, said that certain areas looked after by the town council, had fallen below an acceptable standard of maintenance.

He said grass verges had not been mowed, the closed churchyard at St Mary's Parish Church was overgrown and allotments along Red Lion Street needed urgent attention.

Cllr Nancy Downs (Lib Dem, Townsend) said it was not good enough for the council to say that one thing could only be done at the expense of another and suggested putting up the council's share of tax instead of making redundancies.

The town council took over the maintenance of school grounds after the work was put to tender by Buckinghamshire County Council. The county council would re-tender work if the town council pulled out of the contracts.

Councillors are now awaiting a report from the town's council's Parks and Premises Manager later this year.