Windsor and Maidenhead council is more than £200m in debt and risks becoming the latest local authority to go bankrupt.

The authority is forecast to overspend by £7.3m this year and is budgeted to overspend by £6.2m for 2024/25.

The council’s cabinet was given a stark financial update at its latest meeting that outlined the dire state of the authority’s finances.

Council debt also stands at £203m, and rising interest rates have increased the costs of servicing this debt.

RBWM’s finance lead councillor Lynne Jones said: “Historic spending decisions on council tax and borrowing, weak financial management and low financial resilience over the past decade - coupled with macroeconomic pressures such as inflation - have made the council’s position vulnerable.”

She added: “The cabinet is fully committed to sorting out the council’s finances and this will continue to be our top priority until we achieve a stable financial position.

“However, the situation is complex and challenging, and it will take time to pull this around.”

Councillor Jones said the cabinet will do “everything we can” to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice, which would effectively declare the council bankrupt.

If such a notice were issued, RBWM would become the latest in a series of local authorities to do so, including neighbouring Slough.

The council is set to limit spending in an attempt to control finances, and all non-essential spending will need approval of a Spending Control Panel from October.

Growing demand for adult social care and high levels of inflation have also been cited as among the contributing factors towards the council’s financial woes.

Councillor Jones added: “Without a balanced budget we cannot take forward our wider priorities, and make the changes we want to see for the people and places of the borough.

“My colleagues and I are working hard to secure the changes needed to build financial resilience.”

Council leader Simon Werner previously warned in July that “unpopular” measures would need to be taken to address the difficulties with council finances.

RBWM’s financial troubles come amid a broader trend of local authorities facing effective bankruptcy.

Other councils around the country to have issued Section 114 notices in the past few years include Croydon, Thurrock and Birmingham.

A Section 114 notice indicates that a council cannot meet its spending commitments.