THE financial 'lone ranger' has again galloped to the rescue of Dorset Council's annual budget – cutting its predicted shortfall at the end of the financial year from £12m to £3.5m.

Cllr Brian Heatley told Tuesday's (30 January) Cabinet meeting that he believed that his boyhood hero, the Lone Ranger, must still be alive and working in council finance, charging over the hill at the last minute, year after year, to save the situation.

Cllr Heatley said his examination of the budget over the last five years showed that in almost every year there had been an early prediction of serious financial shortfall by the end of the year – only for the shortfall to miraculously shrink, by an average of £6million, at the last minute.

"Every year something comes to the rescue. Does the Lone Ranger live in finance? Every year we find substantial sums between the first quarter of the year and the third," said Cllr Heatley.

Finance portfolio holder, Purbeck councillor Gary Suttle said if the Lone Ranger did exist he lived in Swanage.

But he said, despite the word play, even though there had been a significant improvement in the predicted shortfall the council was still under strain.

"With most of a quarter (three months) to go we hope to get the final figures as close to the budget as possible, but we remain under financial pressure…

"The underlying issues of an under-funded council remains," he said.

Cllr Suttle later told the meeting that, in view of a recently announced, extra £4m from the Government, he was 're-scheduling' the council's target for savings from transformation work from £12m to £8m, although would still be pushing to better the figure, saving more.