A CASH strapped council has been forced to give up on a further £50,000 from those that have not paid back their debts.

Members of Eastleigh Borough Council's cabinet have approved writing off the money it was owed that despite the council's efforts could not be recovered from individuals and businesses.

This is in addition to the £230,000 of irrecoverable debts the council had to write off in March mostly for unpaid council tax and national non-domestic rates as well as housing benefit for the 2014/2015 year.

However, the council's report also revealed that the council has actually managed to subsequently recover 16 debts totalling £5,775.

It said that this had been helped by the new Hampshire Home Choice Register, the borough's social housing waiting list scheme where people can bid for properties, which can suspend applications where there is an unpaid council debt or one that has been written off.

It comes as the council continues to look to save £4.7m in the next five years.

This year's budget on services has been reduced by £1.5m and all departments have been asked to look at where they can make efficiencies or generate more income.

Job losses have also not been ruled out.

Late last year the council also raised fees and charges by four per cent - above the rate of inflation - for services including cemeteries, car parking, outdoor sports facilities, allotments, waste disposal, planning matters, licence fees, pest control, stray dog collection and housing services to generate extra cash.

The write off total £54,167 is made up of debts of £2,000 or under of £34,885, which is authorised by the chief finance officer, and a further £19,282 in debts of more than £2,000, which cabinet members decide on.

The £34,885 the council is owed relates to 160 cases.

A council report said every effort had been made to recover the money owed, but it had been established that any further effort would "counter-productive and uneconomical".

The figure has dropped from the previous year where 163 cases of debts were written off totalling £42,057.

The officer's report said recovery action on the four debtors totalling the £19,282 had been taken and officers had been given to understand that there was no prospect of securing any payment.

In many cases the debtor could not be traced or were not financially in a position to pay.

One case related to a debt of more than £9,600 relating to bed and breakfast costs dating back to 2001, where the debtor had paid back £500 over a number of years, but now had health problems.

Deputy leader Anne Winstanley said: "It's only been written off because we're unable to collect it.

"If at any time we become able to collect it we will do so - we're certainly not writing it off by choice."