The controversial purchase of three shopping centres in Shrewsbury has led to an underspend, according to Shropshire Council.

Leaders of the unitary authority revealed yesterday how the underspend of more than £650,000 was made through the investment, as well as putting in a place a freeze on all non-essential spends.

It comes despite predictions last autumn of a £5 million overspend.

Peter Nutting, Shropshire Council’s leader, said: “I am often asked why the council invested in the Shrewsbury shopping centres. The main reason is so that we can shape our county town to continue to be a vibrant visitor destination both for Salopians and for all those who want to visit our wonderful county.

“The additional income already raised through this investment between January and March of this year can now be spent on maintaining essential services, without raising taxes. We expect this return to grow to around £3 million in the current financial year.”

David Minnery, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for finance, added: “The Cabinet and senior officers have worked hard to deliver this underspend from a mid-year position when we were on course for a potential overspend of around £5 million. This was due to some significant in year pressures, particularly in terms of keeping vulnerable children safe, taking proper care of older people and highways maintenance."

He added: “We are proud to have prioritised funds to ensure that vulnerable people in our communities are kept safe and are cared for. To do this we implemented a spending freeze in October 2017 and our managers kept tight control to hold back all but absolutely essential expenditure.”