The deal would have seen Computacenter deliver and maintain the council's ICT systems, hardware and security, and help it use technology to improve delivery of and access to council services.

that Computacenter had beat off competition from BT Global Services, Commendium, Fujitsu and TCS, to replace the existing contract with Agilisys.

Cumbria has confirmed to Computerworld UK that its contingency plan is to extend Agilisys' contract in the short term, which is due to end 31 March, to ensure there is no disruption to services.

"Unfortunately, following extensive discussions with Computacenter, it has not proved possible for the two parties to conclude the finalisation of the proposed contract. The council is therefore putting in place interim arrangements with Agilisys to ensure service continuity from 1 April," said a spokesperson for the council.

"The County Council has robust contingency arrangements and is confident that ICT systems will be in place as normal from 1 April and there will be no disruption to either public-facing services or to county council staff. The county council is now assessing a number of options for longer term service delivery."