COUNCIL chiefs have refused to guarantee the jobs of more than 100 workers will be safe under a move to outsource Worcester's bin collections - insisting it would be wrong to "speculate".

Worcester City Council has admitted it cannot give a "cast iron guarantee" to its workers in the cleaner and greener department under proposals to hand most of its services to the private sector.

As your Worcester News first revealed 11 months ago, the Conservative leadership wants to save taxpayers up to £500,000 a year from 2017 by letting private providers empty bins, sweep the streets and maintain parks.

It hopes to negotiate two different contracts with one or more companies, working with district councils in Malvern and Wychavon.

But the change would implicate around 111 city council workers - a massive chunk of its workforce which is around 270 people now.

The hope is that the vast majority of workers will be transferred over, but the the exact number will only be known once or even after a deal is struck.

During a full council meeting opposition Labour councillors pressed the Tory leadership for answers, citing the recent problems at County Hall where private firm Babcock transferred 391 school support workers over, only to then tell them up to 103 roles will go by Christmas.

Labour Councillor Lynn Denham used the meeting to ask how many staff does the leadership "expect to be offered redundancy between now and the end of the first year" under a private operator.

Councillor Andy Roberts, the cabinet member for cleaner and greener, said she was asking him "to speculate" and insisted it is "far too early" to make any predictions.

Councillor Denham then urged him to "learn from the mistakes" at Worcestershire County Council.

He said: "I cannot give a copper-bottomed, cast iron guarantee that every job will be safe, who can give that?

"We can't guarantee to every individual, that they will have a working job here for the rest of their lives."

He praised the current workforce for the job they do, and said she was expecting him to offer assurances over something which is a long way off fruition.

During the meeting the debate over outsourcing bin collections came up several times, with Green Councillor Neil Laurenson criticising the current consultation launching "after the decision to outsource was already made".

Councillor Roberts said he wants to know what people think of the service, saying the feedback would be very important.

Bosses hope to officially start the hunt in February, with two contracts starting from September 2017.

All three district councils in south Worcestershire hope they will save a combined £1.6 million a year from it, although that figure is an estimate cited by an outside consultancy.