County wants civil service jobs

The council wants workers to swap London for Corby or Northampton

Plans to relocate thousands of civil service jobs away from London have sparked a campaign for a share of the posts to come to Northamptonshire.

Leader of the county council Mick Young is spearheading a drive to bring jobs and workers to Northampton and Corby.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced up to 20,000 jobs will be relocated.

Mr Young said there were plenty of places to accommodate the jobs in a county which has been earmarked for a massive housing expansion scheme.

"Northampton has very good communications with other parts of the country and is well placed to take more jobs for the benefit of the town," he said.

Housing growth

"Many civil servants already travel to jobs in London, so this would mean less strain on transport systems.

"Corby also needs a better mix of jobs than it currently has, and there is no shortage of possible sites which could accommodate these jobs.

"Most important of all, Northamptonshire has been earmarked by the government for substantial housing growth in the Milton Keynes and south Northamptonshire study."

He added: "What I am saying to the government is that as part of that growth we need not just housing but also new jobs to boost the economy.

"These kind of civil service jobs would mean some people moving here from London, but also opportunities for many people to be recruited locally into what would be likely to be quite well-paid work.

"I am writing to all the county's MPs and to key government ministers to press our case."