Amber Valley Borough Council (AVBC) has revealed that some of its arts, sports and tourism initiatives could be scrapped due to a budget shortfall.

A report, which will be presented at a council meeting on 5 November, will ask members to adopt a new organisational structure in an attempt to address a funding black hole of £2.5m. Among the report's recommendations will be the redistribution of funds to safeguard services such as waste collection and leisure facilities, as well as projects that will be used by a greater part of the local community.

'High cost/low use' services including the arts, sports promotion and tourism will be regarded as non-priorities under the new structure, unless they are supported by grant funding or are attracting funding that covers the council's costs. The closure of the Tourist Information Centre in Ripley has already been suggested as a result of the cutbacks. The council is also expecting to have to reduce its workforce by 80 in an attempt to add to the £4.6m of savings it has already made.

Leader of AVBC, Stuart Bradford, said: "In considering the recommendations, we want to focus our resources on maintaining the services that the public expect us to deliver, such as street cleaning, refuse and recycling, and parks and open spaces, while at the same time keeping council tax low. "By improving facilities such as parks, playing fields and leisure centres, we aim to improve the health and wellbeing of our local communities. At the same time, we are committed to looking at the most efficient ways to manage our resources."

Earlier this month, it was also revealed that AVBC had £1m deposited in the failed Icelandic banking system.