Cramped workers at Preston's County Hall – already swept aside by a huge £2m sell-off of council property – are being told to double-up in a bid to save taxpayers' cash.

Smaller desks have even been introduced to create "more efficient use of space."

Around 300 Lancashire County Council employees in County Hall and East Cliff, near Avenham Park are affected by the shock move.

It comes weeks after angry staff rebelled when they were told they will have to fork out up to £700 a year to park on council land from April 1.

Authority chiefs have already sold off or leased premises in Fishergate, Cross Street, Winckley Square and Navigation Way

Increase

Lancashire County Council, which this year received a Government grant increase of more than 8%, also spends £130,000 a year on an office in Brussels for three people.

But council bosses today defended the shake up saying it will save millions in administration costs.

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "All county council managers have been told to look at how their staff work and take the opportunity to let people work from home if that is possible where it saves money and does not affect the service."

County Coun Anne Brown, cabinet member for resources and performance, said: "We work hard to get the best value for money from all our resources and this includes looking at how much accommodation we need for staff.

"Better technology has led to our staff being able to work in a more flexible way and we are taking advantage of this by cutting back on the number of offices we own and lease. This year we have been awarded top marks in a government inspection of our use of resources. This has been achieved by making sure we focus all our efforts on improving frontline services and reducing costs elsewhere."

Employees moved into County Hall during the review include Corporate Human Resources and Youth and Community teams, previously in offices on Fishergate, while Environment staff are transferring from buildings in Cross Street.

Leases on eight premises have already been assigned to new tenants or ended. One property owned outright by the county council – the former Westleigh Emergency Planning headquarters at Lea – has also been sold.

Emergency Planning is now based at the Red Rose Hub.

And the cuts are set to continue.

The review of accommodation in Preston is part of a wider review of offices across Lancashire. By 2009/10 the authority expects to have vacated 3,134 square metres of leased office space, achieving savings approaching £400,000 every year.

No-one from Unison at Lancashire County Council was available to comment.