Council's interim chief revealed

Douglas Paterson is stepping down later this month

The man tasked with overseeing the transformation of Aberdeen City Council's finances has been named.

London local government expert Robert Coomber will take up the post as the council's interim chief executive later this month.

He will lead the authority while it seeks a permanent successor to Douglas Paterson, who decided to step down.

Mr Coomber will also act as a financial troubleshooter - a role highlighted by the Accounts Commission in a report.

Mr Coomber, 57, was chief executive and director of finance at Southwark Borough Council in London for 12 years until 2006, before working as a consultant.

This is an interesting job in an interesting place for a period of time that works for me and Aberdeen City Council Bob Coomber Aberdeen City Council interim chief executive

He will take up the post on Monday 18 August.

"I am looking forward to working in Aberdeen," he said.

"This is an interesting job in an interesting place for a period of time that works for me and Aberdeen City Council."

Aberdeen City Council leadership board members said in a statement: "We are pleased that Mr Coomber has decided work with us in a dual role of interim chief executive and external finance adviser.

"We are satisfied that he is the right person for the job during this significant time for Aberdeen City Council."

An expert group helping the council tackle its financial situation told the local authority redundancies would have to be made to make the �49.7m of savings needed.

The cutbacks sparked several months of public protests.

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