Five in running for council post

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Aberdeen City Council is moving closer to appointing a new chief executive.

The appointment will be made next month, and follows the early retirement of the current chief executive Douglas Paterson.

Five names are on the shortlist - two from Scotland and three from England - and are all from local authorities.

No-one from Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire Council has made the final five. An expert group is helping the council tackle its financial problems.

They have told thelocal authority that significant redundancies will have to be made to claw back the Â£49.7m of savings needed.

The cutbacks have led to months of public protests.