Town hall chiefs have admitted taxpayers may have to foot a £650,000 bill to cover costs for a controversial £8m centre to teach young people life skills.

Sutton Council had hoped to find funding from outside sources, but the 2010-11 budget shows taxpayers could be landed with the remaining bill for the Sutton Life Centre.

Councillor John Drage played down the cost in an interview with this newspaper, saying “in the grand scheme of things it was a small cost” when looking at the project as a whole.

He went on to criticise how the council had to find £700,000 to cover the costs of the Freedom Pass scheme after the Government changed its funding for it, saying it would “not be easy to find”.

He said the council had already put aside £400,000 for the Freedom Pass, but the remaining £300,000 would have to be offset by other savings.

He said: “We are being prudent. We clearly have to complete the project and fund it.

“Additional resources have been allocated to close this gap should we not be successful in getting grants.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing: when the centre was planned the economic climate was a lot better than it is now.

The project is partly funded by a £4m grant and the council is contributing £3.6m.

Speaking after the meeting, councillor Tim Crowley, conservative finance spokesman, said the move was concerning.

He said: “From the outset we voiced our deep concerns about the stability of this project and it is now beyond question that they are making this up as they go along.”

At a meeting of the executive on Monday, the budget was agreed in its entirety.

It will be formally approved at a meeting of full council on March 1.