Edinburgh City Council wants 2,000 workers to take voluntary redundancy in a bid to address its £126m budget shortfall.

The council had previously said that there would be no mandatory redundancies under the current administration.

However, councillors now want 2,000 workers to leave their roles by June 2016 to cut the council’s budget shortfall.

Between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs will qualify for the voluntary redundancy packages. However, a number of posts, including teachers and social workers, will be excluded.

The council’s finance and resource committee will be asked to a motion to sanction the redundancies on Thursday, October 29.The council will also ask the Scottish Government to lift the council tax freeze and raise it by 3% in a bid to achieve its four year savings plan.

It has been reported that more jobs could be under threat if the council tax freeze is not lifted.