´óÏó´«Ã½

About 3,400 council jobs in Suffolk are set to be cut or transferred to the private sector, a report commissioned by the Unison union has said.

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies study - based on the county council's own figures - looked at proposals to outsource some services.

It found plans to cut costs by 28% over four years would lead to jobs being cut or transferred to non-council firms.

Suffolk County Council said it was too soon to talk about any job cut numbers.

The report said that in the long term "the possibility cannot be discounted that thousands more employees" could be hit by the council's new strategy to outsource a wide range of services.

It found that any loss of council posts would also have an impact on jobs in the private sector.

For every 4,000 jobs lost in the public sector, another 1,600 could be hit in private sector, the report said.

In September the Conservative-controlled council said the new strategy of outsourcing services - called the New Strategic Direction - was vital to cuts costs in tough economic times.

The council said it wanted to "reduce its size, cost and bureaucracy and build community capacity to enable Suffolk citizens to take greater control of their lives".