SOMERSET County Council's tenant farmers have begun receiving letters advising them whether their farm is or is not likely to be sold.

The authority controversially decided to carry out a "case by case" review of its £40 million council-owned farm stock in the summer, with a view to selling off 27 of the 62 farms to raise money.

Cllr David Huxtable, cabinet member for resources, said: "It has been a long and difficult process, but tough times have forced tough decisions.

"We have listened to the views and concerns of the farmers and have had to balance this with the savings that have to be made.

"The farms are worth a total of more than £40m and that is a huge asset for the council and a huge subsidy for the farmers.

"As a council with an anticipated budget deficit of £75m, we have had to make a very difficult choice."

Council leader Cllr Ken Maddock said: "Somerset County Council is committed to reducing debt and the sales of valuable assets such as the county farms would contribute to the council's overall financial position.

"We spend £36m each year on debt and repayments. That is one pound in every ten we spend on services is spent on debt.

"We just can't go on - it's like a family that has maxed out on the credit card and is now having to sell prize assets to sort out their finances. No-one wants to do this but we have no choice."

The review was ordered as part of a wider "property rationalisation project", which aims to plug a multi-million pound gap in the county council's finances.

As well as farm sales, councillors also agreed to investigate proposals to cut office desk space by 40 per cent.

In West Somerset, that means the office space of 44 staff at both the Minehead Social Services area office in Townsend Road and the Watchet Youth Office in South Road is under review.

The sale of a handful of county farms has already netted the authority £13.8 million since 2005.