COUNCIL cash feared lost after the meltdown of the Icelandic banking system last year could be reclaimed. In October, the WHT reported Hertfordshire County Council faced losing the �28m it had deposited in three of the country's troubled banks, namely

COUNCIL cash feared lost after the meltdown of the Icelandic banking system last year could be reclaimed.

In October, the WHT reported Hertfordshire County Council faced losing the �28m it had deposited in three of the country's troubled banks, namely Landsbanki, Glitnir and Kaupthing.

Some �7m of this money was invested in Heritable - the UK arm of Landsbanki - which later went into administration.

However, administrators Ernst and Young now believes up to 80 per cent of the funds held by this bank could be returned to its creditors.

County councillor David Lloyd, executive member for resources and economic well-being, described the news as an "encouraging first step" on the road to recovering the county's funds.

"Hertfordshire County Council had �7m deposited with Heritable Bank and we will take all possible steps to ensure that we recover as much as possible of our total �28m deposits," he said.

But he stressed: "The recovery of our funds, in common with those belonging to some 120 councils, public and charitable bodies, is anticipated to take some time.

"Ernst and Young are currently estimating that a first dividend of approximately 15 pence in the pound could be paid to creditors of Heritable Bank, including Hertfordshire County Council, later this year.