The Labour Party is more than �10m in the red, the party's general secretary David Triesman has admitted.

He said Labour was overdrawn by �5m and had a �5.5m mortgage on its new head office in Westminster.

We are about �5m overdrawn and we have a �5.5m mortgage

David Triesman

Mr Triesman acknowledged that cash was tight and the party was doing all it could to sort out its finances.

He accepted that a fall in party membership - down to less than 300,000 from more than 400,000 in 1997 - was partly to blame for the shortfall.

Cutbacks by the unions, in response to Labour's support for public private partnerships, had also contributed to the rise in debt.

Bail out

However, earlier this month the unions agreed to give Labour �100,000 to help cover its summer bills.

Delaying last year's general election by a month because of the foot and mouth crisis is thought to have cost an extra �3m.

Bernie Ecclestone's �1m gift caused trouble for Labour

Mr Triesman told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour: "We are about �5m overdrawn and we have a �5.5m mortgage."

He said Labour's overdraft had "never been very much over �5m", but stressed: "That is bad enough - don't get me wrong."

Mr Triesman said there was "still some leakage" of party membership, "particularly among people who are not paying us by direct debit".

Likes and dislikes

Big corporate donors have reportedly been scared away by sleaze scandals, such as the one involving Formula One boss, Bernie Ecclestone, who returned a �1m donation to Labour after claims he had tried to influence policy.

But the general secretary said: "I don't think there is any evidence that ordinary members cease to give money on the basis that they don't like individual donors.

"I can tell you that certainly people are disquieted about it.

"There are people who write in and say they are uncomfortable about it, but that has not changed in any respect the money that comes from individual members of the party."

Triesman: Fall in party membership partly responsible for cash flow problems

Mr Triesman defended Labour's decision to accept �100,000 from adult magazine publisher Richard Desmond.

"In the contemporary circumstances, you have to hope that some wealthy people whose values coincide with yours will give you money."

Mr Triesman insisted that the party's spending was normal.

"The ordinary costs of running a party really does require a quite significant amount of money without being wasteful at all," he said.