THESE are enormously difficult times in which millions of people are having to make sacrifices.

Figures released yesterday show that unemployment in the North- East is higher than any other region in the country – and that is before jobs lost in the past two months are taken into account.

On the same day that those depressing job figures were announced, it was revealed that workers at Northern Rock are to receive a ten per cent bonus tomorrow after the bank achieved its target of repaying a quarter of its £26bn Government loan.

We do not doubt how difficult the past year has been for the staff who made Northern Rock a flagship business brand for the North-East. Nor do we question how hard they have worked to restore Northern Rock’s battered reputation.

But the question has to be asked whether it is right to use nearly £9m of taxpayers’ money as a reward for Government funds being repaid on time.

At a time of mass belt-tightening, what message does it send to all those who have lost their jobs, their homes, their annual pay rises, and their investments?

It is a move that will understandably stick in the throats of many people.

And the controversy will not end there.

We await with great interest the decision of the bank’s renumeration committee on the level of bonuses to be paid to Northern Rock’s senior managers.