DON'T' PANIC about your pension.

That is the message to thousands of council workers from Hampshire County Council Leader Ken Thornber following revelations that the county is facing a massive £590m shortfall in its pension fund.

Last week, The Daily Echo revealed that firefighters, road sweepers and librarians were among thousands of local authority workers in Hampshire facing up to the costly prospect of topping up their pension contributions.

The news emerged after it was revealed that the council's pension fund had a gaping £590m hole because of the depressed stock market.

It means that an estimated 42,000 employees - including those working for Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and 11 district councils - will have to dig deeper in their pockets to pay for the shortfall.

But at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, council leader Cllr Ken Thornber moved to reassure thousands of workers that their pensions were safe.

He said told members of the Cabinet that all council employees would be written to outlining the current state of the council's pension fund. He added the council had a surplus of up to £60m each year which was added to the pension fund.

He said: "We have a position on the pension fund in common with many pension funds in the country, both private and public, where because of a 40 per cent reduction in the FTSE share index they appear to be facing an uncertain future and have large deficits.

"If we were a private company, this could be the case because, of course, private companies can go bankrupt. Fortunately, in terms of local government, these organisations do not go bankrupt."

He added that the valuation of the pension fund had been based on a "worst case" scenario where all of Hampshire's workers would retire tomorrow. He added: "Manifestly that is not going to happen."