Colchester Council is facing huge financial pressures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The council expects a budget shortfall of £9million in 2020. That is almost half of its annual core budget.

Reserves will be used to paper over the cracks, but looking ahead to next year is when the problems really become serious.

Services will need to be examined and, in fact, this work has already begun, with the first idea of charging for garden waste collections, mooted in June.

Following uproar from residents and a lack of consensus in the council chamber, the unpopular plan was dropped.

But it would be naive to think that similar suggestions are not likely to come forward soon.

In this video Labour councillor Mike Lilley, responsible for communities, wellbeing and public safety, explains the budget challenges facing his portfolio.