A swimming baths, golf courses, and even public toilets could be forced to close as Wirral Council battles a huge £16m shortfall in its budget.

The local authority faces a massive financial black hole due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A series of saving options across all areas of the council have been put forward, with some difficult decisions to be made.

If the council does not act to bring its budget back under control, Wirral Council’s finance chief Shaer Halewood has warned she could be forced to issue a section 114 notice, an emergency order that would immediately impose a ban on all spending other than the most basic statutory services.

Some drastic measures could now be taken. These include:

Museums

A full review of the council’s museum service, which includes the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum.

Council documents say retaining the collections costs around £50,000 per year, while closing the museums would save the local authority £327,500.

Europa Pools

Closing Europa Pools in Birkenhead, which Wirral Council says requires “one of the highest levels of support of the borough’s leisure centres” would save the local authority £640,000.

Woodchurch Leisure Centre

Documents on the council’s website say Woodchurch is “one of the smaller leisure centres with one of the lower levels of usage and the second highest level of financial support”.

Delaying the reopening of the centre, it says, would save the council £322,000.

Golf Courses

The council operates four professional gold courses across the borough.

This, it says, is a “non-statutory service” and there are “a number of private courses throughout the borough”.

Potential closure or transfer (to private sector operators) of these courses could save £273,000.

Public Toilets

The council maintains nine public toilets “mainly in coastal areas”.

These include Harrison Drive New Brighton, Moreton Common, Moreton Cross, West Kirby Marine Lake, West Kirby Concourse (outside), Parade Gardens Hoylake, Meols Parade, New Ferry and Thornton Hough.

Closure of these would lead to a saving of £142,000.

These and other cost-cutting methods will be discussed at Wirral’s Policy and Resources Committee meeting on Friday.