A COUNCIL hopes to avoid making compulsory redundancies by training staff to work in other roles.

More than 240 employees at Cheshire East Council could lose their jobs under major restructuring plans.

The council, which covers the boroughs of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield, has identified 241 members of staff who are facing redundancy or redeployment in the next six months.

Most of the jobs are office roles, including IT staff.

At a cabinet meeting yesterday, councillors discussed a report into the restructuring plans.

It said the council is supporting the workers by considering targeted voluntary redundancies and re-deploying staff to new jobs in the council.

Congleton councillor Roland Domleo, said: "We're just hoping the majority of staff can be retrained and deployed in other roles."