WINCHESTER civic chiefs are cutting back on their major schemes over the next few years.

The recession has reduced income so much that the capital programme will have to be scaled back.

The city council Cabinet is today considering a report that says some ideas should be scrapped or delayed.

Among the work which must be done is to the roof of the 1970s council headquarters in Colebrook Street.

Some extra money is to be spent including a £40,000 contribution to upgrading the area outside the Casson Block after a campaign by local shopkeepers that it could be converted into an outdoor seating area.

Money is also to be spent on improving council buildings such as Abbey Mill to make it easier to let.

An extra £2.9m is to be spent on long-planned revamp of the ageing River Park Leisure Centre, which dates from the late 1980s.

But among the victims are rural transport, home improvement grants, and less money on IT and sewage treatment works.

In total, the council proposes to spend £57.5m between 2009-10 and 2013-14.