Local government union Unison responded angrily yesterday after Edinburgh City Council announced fresh plans for hundreds of job losses in a cost-cutting exercise.

Council chief executive Sue Bruce unveiled a “transformation” plan called Better Outcomes through Leaner Delivery which aims to save £138 million by 2017, by stripping out hundreds of jobs and cutting the city’s five departments to four.

But Edinburgh Unison president John Stevenson warned: “We are going to see front-line services disappearing.”