CASH-STRAPPED council chiefs are attempting a mass sell-off of buildings and unused land – with sites across the Malvern Hills area among those expected to bring in millions of pounds.

Former school grounds, and unused farming land, among other places up for sale, are being touted from Malvern to Upton-upon-Severn.

Worcestershire County Council, which owns acres of spare land, is trying to offload any property deemed “surplus to requirements”

and has 18 sites for disposal across the county.

Years of down-sizing has resulted in the authority now employing just over 4,000 people, meaning more office space has become vacant.

Bosses are also trying to save £90 million from spending by 2015 under a plan called BOLD – Better Outcomes, Leaner Delivery.

A cash windfall of land sales totalling £14 million would help contribute towards that figure.

The sites for sale include six acres of unused farming land at Orchard Farm, in Castlemorton, unused land in Townsend Way, Malvern, and land by the old primary school in Longdon village.

Councillor David Thain, the cabinet member for transformation and change, said: “Our property disposal programme is an important part of BOLD – it’s all about getting the best return for taxpayers.”

“It’s not just a case of, ‘We’ve got no use for this, we’ll sell it’ – if there are opportunities to join up with other land owners nearby or private developers and sell it as a larger site, we’ll do so.”

Among the high-profile sale sites is the Worcester History Centre in Worcester which has become redundant since all the services moved to the £60 million Hive in the city, in July.

Further afield in the county the St George’s caretakers house in Kidderminster has been vacant for 10 years Of the 18 assets for sale, seven are currently under offer – including Pershore Library, and the old Stourport Primary School.

The authority is not revealing how much it believes individual sites are worth.