PLANS are under way to create 400 jobs which are badly needed in a rural area to replace those being cut at a big drugs factory.

The efforts are being helped by £750,000 donated to an enterprise fund by GlaxoSmithKline to compensate for reducing its workforce in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

New work has been set up for about 150 people in the area in the past 12 months, and dozens more places could be created.

Shaun Stuart, chief executive of the Teesdale Enterprise Agency, which is handling the campaign, said yesterday: "The results so far have been absolutely phenomenal.

"The fund has helped us launch 52 small businesses which, between them, have provided work for 75 men and women. And established firms have been helped to take on another 75.

"We are now right on course to have at least 400 new jobs established in Teesdale over the next couple of years, to make up for all those cut back at the factory."

GlaxoSmithKline opened its factory in the town more than 50 years ago. It employed more than 1,500 people, but said a year ago that it was dispensing with 400 jobs as part of a gradual rationalisation programme.

The fund is able to offer up to £5,000 in subsidies for each job created, and this has proved an incentive for newcomers and established firms.

But potential employers have to prove the jobs are genuine and lasting.

Mr Stuart said: "This is an excellent example of a large company looking after an area in which it operates. The gesture is greatly appreciated."

The agency, which works with the County Durham Development Company, is advising a number of people who hope to become self-employed, and expects several to be in business before the end of the year.

Sue Smith, a start-up advisor, shows clients how to write business plans. Then they are invited on to training courses.

After that, four advisors are on hand to help them cope with any problems.

Mr Stuart said: "We are able to give a great deal of support, so all these new small companies have prospects, not just of surviving, but of growing steadily."