TOWN hall bosses are pleading for cash help as a £3 million overspend looms on the horizon.

Massive money problems in social services and education threaten to break the bank, says a grim forecast made just two months into the financial year.

Officers have been ordered to draw up action plans to find savings across a whole range of services.

And Bury's MPs are being asked to lobby the Government for help: councillors blame much of the crisis on having to pay for a series of changes in legislation.

Councillor Derek Boden, deputy council leader, said that the £3 million deficit forecast for next year was a "worst case scenario".

But he admitted the situation was serious, and there was not enough in council reserves to balance the budget.

Social services is heading towards a £2.5 million overspend if current trends continue, whereby demand for services outstrips resources.

Extra home care costs along with more placements into nursing and residential homes account for £1.1 million of that.

A further £800,000 could be lost if the "Pay As You Eat" scheme in old folks' homes is scrapped. The council has been taking advantage of this legal loophole for years, receiving housing benefit for residents in council-run residential homes.

And meeting the Government's new "Leaving Care" legislation will cost £200,000. Money has only just been found to meet last year's social services overspend of £380,000, with a further £450,000 of efficiency savings also budgeted for.

"It is very unlikely that social services will be able to meet this shortfall from savings within its own budgets," said Councillor Mike Connolly, social services chairman, at Wednesday's (July 25) council meeting.

He also warned that the majority of social services were statutory and must be provided: they cannot be scrapped simply because they are not affordable.

In education, the £500,000 pressures come from overspending on placing children in independent schools outside the borough, and paying more on transport and bus escorts.

Possible savings have been identified which go some way to reducing the projected shortfall. Some £600,000 may be available by rescheduling long-term debts, and the council may have an extra £1.6 million if last year's budget is, as anticipated, underspent.

Councillor John Byrne, council leader, said all councils were struggling to pay for social services.

"When we set the budget in March, we could not have forecast what is happening now," he said.

"If action is taken, then this scenario can be averted. But we have told our officers to be pessimistic rather than optimistic when drawing up their figures."