Councils serving the Shotley peninsula face a black hole in their finances once the Covid-19 crisis is over, after a huge drop in income and a significant increase in expenditure during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Local authorities across Suffolk, including Babergh District Council and the county council, have issued a plea to the Government for more cash to tackle the coronavirus crisis, as the public purse has taken a multi-million pound hit in Suffolk in just one month.

One council predicted that additional expenses and income losses would be three times higher than the initial government injection of support, while another said its meagre financial package covered just a day and a half of the losses it faced this month.

The coronavirus crisis has battered authorities as they face the double whammy of extra costs for relief efforts coupled with a big dip in income.

Discounts have already been issued to homes financially struggling to pay council tax and council house rents, but council tax increasingly makes up a smaller and smaller part of how public services are financed.

Councils now use investments in commercial property, such as Cifco for Babergh, as well as income from leisure centres, theatres and car parks to bring money in, and help limit the amount in council tax rises needed to pay for vital services.

Lockdown has effectively slashed that income entirely.

Those vital services funded include waste collection and recycling, foster care services, highway maintenance, grass and hedge cutting, street lighting, adult care provision, fire services, Trading Standards, planning permissions and environmental health to name a few.

Councils across England were invited to submit a Delta return to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) last week – a form which summarises the financial hit they have taken.

Babergh opted to give a full-year estimate in its Delta return last week, which predicted a £257,000 additional spend and a £955,000 loss in income.

The authority said it was early days, and that it "simply doesn't have enough data yet to predict these ongoing costs and losses with certainty".

Council leader John Ward said: "The picture is changing on a daily basis as we have new situations to respond to and new information from the Government to factor in.

"We do know, however, that we are and will continue to incur significant additional costs as part of our response to supporting our communities; and also significant loss of income.

"For example we expect a reduction in both our council tax and business rates income as the financial position of both our residents and businesses is affected by Covid-19.

"As we have only just issued bills for 2020/21, it's too early to know what the full impact will be. Similarly, we know there are some areas where we will incur additional costs, for example around emergency accommodation costs for those at risk of homelessness."