Council bosses are considering launching a lottery to raise cash for good causes. 

East Ayrshire Council is working with other local authorities in Scotland to find a firm to operate the gambling plan.

The idea was suggested at an East Ayrshire Council cabinet meeting this week.

It is hoped to present a lottery business case for councillors to consider at a later date.

The council’s head of transformation Craig McArthur put forward the scheme during a performance report. 

A number of councils elsewhere in the UK including Essex already sell lottery tickets to generate money for different projects. 

A paper presented to the East Ayrshire cabinet meeting said the council was working through the local government Improvement Service and Scotland Excel to “establish a strong business case.” 

Council depute leader Councillor Elena Whitham told the meeting some local people in the community were already operating a lottery.

Mr McArthur said the council venture would not undermine any community efforts. 

The council paper said: “The results of a recent procurement exercise to establish market interest is currently being considered by the lead councils, including East Ayrshire. A high level business case can then be prepared for initial consideration by members."

Improvement Service said in a statement that “council lotteries offer the potential to generate income for distribution to ‘good causes’ – normally via local community and voluntary groups.”

The lottery venture is part of the council’s transformation strategy.

It aims to redesign council services to cover expected multi-million financial gaps in the budget over upcoming years.

The council needs to reduce its budget by  £32 million over the next three years.