WYRE Forest district council’s leader says returns from the authority’s Iceland investments are accounted for in its latest budget proposals.

In an update to full council on Wednesday last week, Conservative councillor John Campion said the council had received 72 per cent of the £9 million it had invested in three Icelandic banks.

He said the total return could be more than 90 per cent but Labour councillor Nigel Knowles said that meant about £100,000 would not be returned, adding: “Will this mean more cuts?”

Mr Campion responded: “We continue to account for return of this money in our budget process and we are actually increasing the projection of the amount we are anticipating getting back.”

The council had £9 million invested in Landsbanki, Heritable Bank and Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander at the time of the collapse of Iceland’s banking system in 2008.