A COMMUNITY action group to tackle social problems has been created in a former steel town once crippled with unemployment.

Consett Action Group has been formed by residents concerned at the impact cuts in Government spending are having on the area.

Group spokesman Terri Lee-Shield, who works as a photographer, said the housing problems and joblessness is having a knock on effect on the prosperity of the town.

She said: “There have been lot of cuts, more of which are going to be implemented and it is going to affect people more and more.”

The group has already had one meeting last month and has another planned on Tuesday, August 18 at Blackhill Comrades’ Club at 7pm.

Members will be manning a stall on Middle Street from 11am-2pm this Saturday to gain support and explain more about their plans.

Government figures from the Office of national Statistics show the current rate of unemployed based on people claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance is 1.7 per cent, the same as the national average and lower than the North-East average of 2.7 per cent.

But actually 3,080 people of working age in and around Consett are not in work and only 475 of those claim Job Seekers Allowance.

That means 10.7 per cent of the Derwent Valley is described as ‘workless’ compared to a 9.5 per cent national average, which is 12.9 per cent across County Durham.

Miss Lee-Shield said: “The figures make it look like we haven’t got a problem with unemployment by forcing people to go into zero hours contracts and low paid jobs or volunteering.

“It is keeping people in constant state of uncertainty and insecurity.”

Consett’s darkest period was in September 1980 when the steelworks was closed and 3,700 found themselves out of work before the town made a slow economic recovery.

Earlier this year, 70 people were made redundant after KP Snacks closed the famous former Phileas Fogg factory in Consett.

It came not long after the closure of Hassockfield Secure Training Centre with the loss of 150 jobs.

North-East Durham MP Pat Glass said: “A survey has showed 20 per cent of young people are just opting out of the system because they are sick of it and are just working cash in hand, which makes them incredibly vulnerable.”

Julie West, employment and skills manager at Durham County Council, said 592 people have been referred to its Work Programme over the last four years.

She said 261, 44 per cent, have moved into work and 72 per cent of those have kept their jobs.

“We are doing what we can,” she said.