BASILDON Council will have to pay up to £1million for a computer upgrade.

The council may have to spend the large sum because ageing computers operating its housing management need to be replaced.

It comes after the council said it could have to save £10million by the end of March 2014, as council staff and councillors brace themselves for Government cuts.

The computers are up to 17-years-old and currently used by both the council and St Georges Community Housing.

Council officers have ruled out simply upgrading the system because the computers are so old they will no longer be supported in the UK.

Andrew Baggot, councillor responsible for community and work with St Georges, said: “Because of the austerity measures we are looking at all the options, to find out the minimum we can spend to get the job done.

“The £1million is the top cost.

“We can't go on using a system that is unsupported, so we have recognised we need to be thinking about replacing them.”

Mr Baggot said the council had already figured the cost into its long term plans.

He added in the long term, the new computers may help to increase the efficiency of housing services. Last week the council said it may have to dip into reserves and make cuts over the next few years, as the Government carries out a spending review that could see council budgets slashed.

Council chiefs are expecting to find out more when Chancellor George Osborne reports the results of the review in October, although the full details may not be known until early next year.

In the meantime the council has asked residents to prepare themselves for potential cuts.