HEAVY hints have been dropped that the days of the Croydon Economic Development Company (CEDC) in its present form are numbered.

Talks have been held this week between the council's chief executive Jon Rouse and CEDC board members to reveal the authority's options for the future of the company in light of council grant cuts of £4million announced by the Government at the end of last week.

The area based grant, which has suffered the cut, is used to finance the work of the CEDC.

Around £8 million a year is spent on economic growth projects ranging from supporting local businesses to attracting inward investment.

CEDC was established to succeed Croydon Business and operate as a private sector-led set up at arms length from the council.

Its remit is to generate economic growth and promote investment in Croydon.

In November last year, the council stepped in with a rescue mission to take it over after around £500,000 of financial problems, which had brought it to the brink of collapse, were discovered.

The council's Labour opposition leader Tony Newman has long called for the plug to be pulled on CEDC.

Now, it is understood, there is also a growing feeling within the ruling Conservative group that abandoning CEDC and bringing the best of its operations in-house will be the most effective way of promoting the town.

They feel the money poured into CEDC has not brought the kind of results the council wants to see.

Its future will be considered by the cabinet next month and, while a break up is being suggested by sources as the most likely outcome, the official line is muted.

Simon Hoar, the council's cabinet member for economic development and regeneration, said the council's priority was to deliver best value, adding that residents "want to see every pound of their money being spent on things that really matter to them."

He said: "In order to do that we know we have to make some tough decisions about what to keep going and what to reduce spending on." Cllr Hoar said the council would be working with CEDC to come up with a package which maintained some of the important projects being funded.