Twenty five new jobs have been given to local people as part of a new street cleaning and grounds maintenance contract.

The council contract came into effect on Sunday and of the 40 new roles 25 were given to people from the borough.

Special codes were available for locals to quote when applying for positions.

Councillor Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It’s terrific news.

“You obviously can’t give people jobs simply based on where they live, but you can make sure that they are told about opportunities like this and given every chance of being interviewed.

The council has contracted Urbaser to carry out the works.

Cllr Loakes added that over 60 per cent of the posts went to local residents and that Urbaser had over 400 applications.

“Not only have we boosted local employment, but with that level of choice we can be fairly confident that we’ve got some first class staff cleaning our streets and keeping our parks and open spaces neat and tidy,” he said.

The posts recruited include a variety of roles from operatives to supervisor level and full-time and part-time positions. There were also a number of apprentices taken on by Urbaser.