Almost 200 hundred people will be made redundant by the council this year at a cost of more than �2.5million.

So far in the financial year 2011 to 2012 93 council employees have lost their jobs at a cost of �1million, only eight of which were voluntary.

But before April next year, a further 102 are expected to be made redundant - 57 voluntarily.

The final bill for pay-offs, revealed in a financial document for the council’s executive meeting last week, is forecast to b �2.6million.

Ken Muller, from Islington Hands Off Our Public Services, said: “To spend money on making people redundant is an appalling waste of money - which would be far better spent on public services.

“We are angry that cuts are being made at a time when billions are being paid to bail out the banks.”

Cllr Richard Greening, Islington Council’s executive member for finance, said: “We have had to cut spending by over �50million - about one sixth of our entire budget. This makes significant job losses inevitable.

“We have reduced the impact by not filling vacancies and seeking voluntary redundancies and I am pleased to say the voluntary redundancy programme will significantly reduce the number of staff we have to make compulsorily redundant.

“The costs we have incurred in redundancy payments would have been far lower if central Government was not cutting public expenditure too far and too fast and imposing the highest cuts on the poorest areas.”