A COMMUNITY bank to help local businesses is being mooted by council chiefs.

Councils in England have been looking to fill the funding gap caused by banks lending less in the economic downturn and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council is investigating how it can help.

The council would not be able to fund the project but possible options include going into partnership with a bank – like Essex County Council has done – and partnering other councils.

Councillor Geoff Petherick has started discussions with the council managers and found the council does have the powers to provide community banking locally.

He said: “It would not be able to come from council funds, that’s without a doubt, as we’ve got a £2.8million-hole in our budget over the next few years.

“But it’s an option we are looking at.

“At the moment for unemployment we are in reasonable shape in comparison, but is it going to get worse than that? I don’t know.”

Birmingham City Council’s plans include providing mortgages and savings accounts, but Coun Petherick is unable to confirm who could benefit in Dorset.

He added: “It is in the initial stages. The two local authorities that have done it are pretty large and we’ve got a long, long way to go on it.

“Whether we would be able to do it in Weymouth and Portland I don’t know and we are looking at quite a lot of options at the moment.

Chairman of the Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce Nigel Reed said businesses would welcome attempts to find alternative sources of cash.

He said: “It’s a good idea to at least look at it. I think Weymouth and Portland Borough Council isn’t big enough to do it on its own but Dorset County Council might be able to so a partnership might be a good idea.

“We would be supportive.”

Ray Bulpit, managing director at Southwell Business Park, expressed doubts the council could set up the scheme but agreed businesses would welcome the idea.

He said: “The banks are certainly in a mess and it’s difficult.

“They are not declaring their hand and that makes future planning extremely difficult.

“I’m not sure an organisation which is not operating as a bank would be terribly reliable.

“The difficulty is Weymouth and Portland are not mainstream business centres. I can see that sort of thing operating where there is sufficient and fairly substantial demand to make it worthwhile.”