Teaching jobs could be saved after the Government threw Sussex schools a £15 million lifeline.

The funding crisis in education led to Brighton and Hove City Council revealing up to 62 teaching jobs could go because schools could not afford them.

But Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced on Thursday that the overnment had found £800 million in unspent reserves which would be paid to education authorities over the next two years.

Schools councillor Pat Hawkes said: "After the Charles Clarke package there is a good chance there will not be the same Draconian loss of staff we expected, although we will have to wait to view the details.

"It is still uncertain but we are less fearful about it.."

The jobs to go were a mixture of compulsory and voluntary redundancies and natural wastage through teachers leaving or retiring and not being replaced.

The £15 million will be given to schools across the county in a desperate bid to prevent another cash crisis.

It will mean an extra £2.5 million for schools in Brighton and Hove for the next two years.

Meanwhile, reaction to the Government U-turn was mixed. Hove MP Ivor Caplin welcomed the news.

He said: "This is a clear and unambiguous move forward and the first step on the road to a more secure funding system for the next two years in which Brighton & Hove's schools can have confidence."

But despite welcoming the cash, Peter Evans, head at Cardinal Newman and chairman of the secondary heads in Brighton and Hove, said it might still not be enough to redress the funding crisis.

He said: "It is important not to get emotional with the whole thing and look at the practicalities of it.

"The absence of further funding this year is a serious failure. I can't imagine how a further increase next year is going to redress the balance of what we are facing this year.

"I applaud the principles outlined by Charles Clarke but the key to their success will be the extent of the increases referred to."