THE number of job seekers in east Durham is down to 2.2 per cent - a far cry from the time in 1986 when unemployment peaked at over 18 per cent.

But that may not be the full story, as mining has left the area another legacy - and it is one that disguises the true scale of the area's unemployment problem.

The number of people on incapacity benefit is 10,900, ten times the national average and 23 per cent of the working population.

Doctors say the figure is partly due to the hazards of working in the mines where dust lodged in lungs and led to long-term poor health.

A few years ago, a study by academics from Sheffield discovered that - at a time when Easington's official jobless total was ten per cent - the actual number out of work was 33 per cent. The difference was in the number of long-term sick.

But mining communities have a way of recovering. Just ask Kate Welsh.

When she took over Easington's Action Team for Jobs in 2000, many residents were still struggling.

The team decided to take its help directly to each community, at the same time upgrading educational and training infrastructure.

She says: "There is no question we now have a fairly buoyant labour market, through helping people to want jobs and feeling equipped to do them.

"Easington has become a test-bed learning community, with more joined-up services having more impact than anywhere else in the country."