The cash is due to Corby Council for section 106 agreements – when a builder agrees to pay a sum of money to the authority to provide community facilities as part of its agreement to be allowed to build houses.

Corby Council is now owed £858,698, while builders also owe Northamptonshire County Council £1,719,000.

Not all of the payments are overdue and some developers have negotiated with the council to make their payments later because of the economic climate.

The sums are due to the authorities from the developers of projects including the Little Stanion village, Oakley Vale and the Stanion Plantation Eurohub development.

In the past few years, Corby Council has collected more than £15.5m in section 106 money, which has helped pay for the swimming pool, civic hub, playgrounds and other community facilities.

None of Corby's major public building projects will be affected by the outstanding sums.

But if the cash is not collected and spent within a set timeframe, it has to be paid back to the developers.

Corby Council has appointed an officer to deal with the issue.

Since Angela Kingshott took up her role in November she has managed to collect £748,000 from developers including £82,000 for the Rockingham Park leisure complex and £309,000 for the Priors Hall estate.

Corby Council leader Pat Fawcett said: "We are very pleased with the work that Angela Kingshott is doing.

"We are continuing to vigorously pursue any outstanding issues."

A major portion of the money outstanding – £540,000 to Corby Council and £515,000 to the county council – is due from Prologis, the firm developing the Eurohub Main area at Stanion Plantation off Long Croft Road.