SWINDON is still one of the best places in the south west if you are looking for work.

Although the town used to have a reputation for almost full employment, that has fallen in recent years.

So far this year more than 1,500 people have lost their jobs as companies including Endeva, Swindon Pressings and WH Smith have been forced to shed jobs. Most recently Thames Water said it would be making more than 200 people redundant from its Kembrey Park customer centre.

However, new figures issued by the Office of National Statistics for the period between February and April this year show that in Swindon 81.9 per cent of the population is in employment.

This contrasts favourably with the figure for the south west as a whole which is 79.1 per cent.