CITY of York Council is getting an extra £781,000 in Government cash to help ease the pain of funding cuts.

The news came earlier this week as Communities Secretary Greg Clark announced a revised final settlement for local councils.

A total of £150 million is being allocation to council nationwide, and the cash coming to York is a "transitional grant" to help areas facing large decreases in their grant funding.

Council leader Chris Steward said: "This is money which we did not expect and clearly it is very welcome. The Government has listened to what councils have had to say regarding the very difficult exercise of balancing the grant money to be allocated to rural and better-off authorities like York, with the money going to large urban authorities with greater deprivation.

"There are no easy answers when money is very tight, and once over the next few years local authority funding has transitioned towards the retention of local business rates York ought to be in a strong financial position, however currently our finances are under pressure and these additional funds will help.

He added: “As we were not expecting it we have not yet determined what this money will be used for, but an announcement will be made in due course following discussions with officers and the executive.”