ABOUT 2,000 council jobs in Cornwall are to be axed in a bid to save £110 million over the next four years in local government spending.

The shock announcement came yesterday as council chiefs revealed they would set their own emergency budget for next year in November. The move comes ahead of the outcome of the Government's spending review.

Leaders said they expected to take a 30 per cent hit in Government funding over the next four years.

The authority has a gross budget of £1.24billion and a workforce of around 22,000. Cuts will affect around 10 per cent of employees.

Before arriving at a press conference at County Hall in Truro, council leader Alec Robertson and chief executive Kevin Lavery delivered the news to councillors.

When asked if redundancies could be swallowed up by natural wastage, Mr Lavery replied: "I think it will be on a compulsory basis."

Mr Lavery said the enormous cut-backs would have a knock-on effect on the Cornish economy.

"We spend half our budget on our staff and half on goods and services so companies in Cornwall who are part of our supply base will get less money", he said.

Mr Robertson said: "We have to be realistic and not try to bury our heads in the sand: but by setting our own budget we will be in charge of our destiny and not be waiting for someone else to make the decision for us.

"Delaying these decisions now will have a much more severe impact on jobs and services in the future."

When asked if council chiefs earning more than £100,000 would be given the boot to save money, Mr Robertson replied: "Now is not the time to be getting rid of the best managers who are at the top of their game."

Mr Robertson said he was greeted by a 'stunned silence' when the news was broken to fellow-councillors.

"After it had sunk in a bit there were a lot of suggestions about how we could make savings," he said.

Mr Robertson said the council had been looking at making huge savings a year ago when it became clear local authorities would have to tighten their belts.

He said staff had already suggested where savings could be made, including not receiving their incremental pay rise and going down to a four-day week.

The emergency budget is due to be presented to Cabinet on October 13 and before the full council in November.

Council employees learned yesterday that jobs were on the line either via a podcast made by Mr Lavery or by e-mail.

Areas identified so far where further savings are to be made include reducing the number of properties the council owns and uses. Savings of at least £3million a year could be achieved, according to council leaders.

Services will become amalgamated, such as the environment, highways and environment departments which has already been brought under one roof.

The council will also be looking at what it buys in from contractors and suppliers, and contracts will be integrated where possible.

Stuart Roden, regional officer for union Unison, said: "We knew it was going to be bad — but not this bad.

"We expected 500 to 600 job losses but not 2,000.This is a double whammy for Cornwall. We've already had the local government reorganisation and now these additional savings."

Mr Roden said the union would be working with council leaders to minimise the impact of redundancies.

"There's no appetite for strike action", he said. "We have to protect as many jobs as possible."

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Doris Ansari said she was dismayed and shocked at the number of jobs set to go.

"It's a huge number", she said. "I don't know where they got the number from and the formula they used, but what I can say is that taking out 2,000 public-sector workers will have a devastating effect on the economy of Cornwall.

"They did say that the private sector will pick up the losses, but we don't have that many companies able to soak up that many workers. It beggars belief."

Cornwall Council's Cabinet member for highways, transport and planning Graeme Hicks said: "It's a black day for Cornwall but it's a question of damage limitation. We have to act now to start making savings. We simply can't go on living the way we have been."

Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole said earlier in the day, before the announcement at full council, a motion had been passed to lobby central Government to set up a commission into why the county received less than other areas of the country. "The problem is we have been under-funded for years and we have to fight for a fairer deal," he said.