BOLTON Council has clawed back almost all of the money it lost in the Icelandic banking crash.

The council had £4 million invested in Landsbanki and £2 million in Heritable Bank before they went into administration in 2008, helping to prompt a international economic crisis.

Now town hall bosses say they have received £5.86 million from a combination of the administrators of Heritable Bank, the winding up board of Landsbanki and from the sale of its claims.

It follows fears, reported in The Bolton News in 2009, that the council would only get 70 per cent of its original investment back.

A council spokesman said the money had been recouped, thanks to a national effort.

He said: “It’s been a long and drawn-out process to recover the money that was owed to us.

“The Local Government Association co-ordinated a joint legal action on behalf of all the local authorities to recover these funds.

“Now the vast majority of the money has been returned and the remainder has been covered by the provision we set aside in 2008 to cover any potential losses.”