North Ayrshire Council is in danger of running out of cash reserves, according to a new report.

The Accounts Commission said 2016-17 had been a challenging year for local government, with the amount of cash councils receiving from the Scottish Government down by 7.6% in real terms from 2010-11.

A total of 19 councils used cash from their revenue reserves in 2016/17, up from the eight authorities in 2015-16.

The report said: "Councils are showing signs of increasing financial stress.

"They are finding it increasingly difficult to identify and deliver savings and more have drawn on reserves than in previous years to fund change programmes and routine service delivery.

It follows North Ayrshire council having to cut over £70m from its budget by 2020.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: "We welcome the Accounts Commission report and the recognition of the financial challenges facing all local authorities.

"The council has clear plans to utilise reserves in support of service initiatives and our transformation programme which will result in a planned reduction over time.

"The council holds a level of reserves, this is currently £6.4m, which has not been earmarked and is in place to mitigate risks and support medium-term financial planning.

"We recently published a long-term financial outlook which identifies a potential funding gap of £156m over the next ten years, with savings of £70m requiring to be identified over the next three years."