HALTON Council is to be handed a £3 million pound cash injection by the Government to help it cope with becoming an all-purpose authority.

Local government minister Hilary Armstrong announced that the council can borrow an extra £2.825 million on Wednesday.

The new credit limit has been extended to help Halton cope with the extra costs of making the transition to unitary status.

Halton severed its links with Cheshire County Council in April, taking on responsibility for the running of all services in the borough.

"We recognise that the one-off costs of transition are significant. Authorities involved in the reorganisation process experience financial pressure in the run-up year to, and years immediately following, reorganisation," said Mrs Armstrong.

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