SOMERSET County Council is so broke that finance bosses could sell County Hall in Taunton, it was revealed this week.

The man in charge of the authority’s resources, Cllr David Huxtable, says money for capital projects such as new roads and school buildings could run out by the end of the year unless more cash is found.

The new Conservative administration wants to avoid borrowing, so it is looking at selling assets such as county farms and buildings to pay for new schemes.

Cllr Huxtable said levels of debt had quadrupled from £100million in 1993 to £400million this year, and that serving them cost £36million every year.

He told the County Gazette: “If we don’t raise more capital we’re going to run out of money to do things.

“We made a policy decision only to borrow more money as a last resort.”

Cllr Huxtable said he had ordered a review of all the council’s assets and said there was vacant space at County Hall and at other properties around Somer-set.

“We would sell County Hall if someone makes a decent offer for it,” he said, although he declined to put a figure on how much it was worth.

Jill Shortland, leader of the LibDem opposition and former leader of the council, said: “It’s ludicrous. We left the Conservatives with well over a year’s worth of capital programme money.

“If they sold County Hall the rental costs for offices would be so high you’d have to cut services to pay the rent.”

Deputy LibDem leader Sam Crabb said: “When you compare the repayment of the debt to the total income it’s 3.4% – that’s like someone earning £1,000 a month paying a mortgage of £34.

“They have to find other savings rat-her than sell the family silver.”

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