Copeland Council has furloughed 45 of its employees as it counts the cost of coronavirus – which its mayor revealed could be a multi-million-pound hit.

The council’s first ever virtual annual general meeting and an extraordinary council meeting which followed this week highlighted the financial impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had on the council, on top of the human cost across the area.

Elected mayor Mike Starkie said the latest details submitted to the Government showed about £994,000 in additional costs and lost revenue, with the potential cost if current restrictions stay until the end of July being £2million.

Mr Starkie confirmed that the council had this week been allocated an additional £715,512 in funding from the Government but stressed that it was still having to work to mitigate financial problems.

Councillor David Moore, who serves as deputy mayor, also revealed the council has placed 45 of its employees on furlough with full pay, with their agreement, and the situation is being reviewed on a weekly basis.

Some staff have also been shuffled into new roles to help deal with the crisis.

The mayor warned that the council should be braced for a potential reorganisation of local government during the recovery from the crisis.

He said: “We cannot, nor should we, ignore the inevitability of local government reorganisation.

“We must engage and look at how our residents can best be served.

“As I have said, we as a council are going through unprecedented, momentous times, which are taking us on a journey that we could not even have begun to have imagined 12 months ago.”

The council has lost £68,000 from car parks, £60,000 from trade waste collections and £126,000 in council tax and business rates, Mr Starkie said, while it had also spent £79,626 since March on 109 new laptops and equipment to be used by staff and councillors to enable them to work remotely.

Mr Starkie also outlined the need to emphasise the commercial activities of the council as it looks to bounce back from the current situation.

“Our towns face exciting and long-awaited regeneration as government funding comes into Copeland,” he added.

“Our strong partnerships with our nuclear sector and indeed all of our major businesses will continue to be built upon and it will be developed for our mutual benefit.

“The focus we’ve had on our commercial activities will be pursued to provide much-needed income to help fund vital services.”

The annual general meeting saw Charles Maudling elected the new chair of the council, taking over from Joan Hully, with Felicity Wilson serving as deputy.

Mr Starkie confirmed that the council’s executive would remain the same, while a calendar of virtual meetings which is set to run until May 2021 was also approved.

The virtual meetings ran smoothly, with one short delay.