A GROWING hospitality industry, as well as the expansion of smaller businesses has seen unemployment in the Cotswolds halve since the recession.

The numbers of people claiming job seekers allowance has dropped to 310 in the Cotswold District, a 56 per cent drop from the height of the recession in 2010, JobCentre Plus said.

The district has far fewer unemployed people than other, more populous parts of Gloucestershire, with 510 unemployed in Stroud, 1,210 unemployed in Gloucester and 705 unemployed in Cheltenham.

The news comes as the Department for Work and Pensions announced Britain had reached its highest ever employment rate of 74 per cent, with a record 31.4million people in work - around 75 per cent of these jobs are considered full-time.

Mike Nicholls, spokesman for Gloucestershire Jobcentre Plus, said the figures had been bolstered by a strongly performing hospitality centre.

“The Cotswolds is doing well. What we have seen in the last few months is that hospitality is on the rise,” he said.

“We’ve got places coming into the area like Premier Inn which are big employers."

He added that the Cotswolds, and particularly Cirencester, attracted a lot of outside visitors.

“Its location also means it has a good catchment area for jobs because people can easily travel out.”

Cotswold District has relatively low numbers of ‘long-term unemployed’ – those unable to find work for more than a year – with government initiatives helping 97 to 98 per cent find work within a year.

The South West as a whole saw 83,000 find employment over the past year.

Further employment is guaranteed in the district in the coming months with Warner's Budgens' latest store currently under construction in Winchcombe.

The 4,500 sq ft supermarket will be owner Guy Warner's sixth store and will be larger than the premises in Broadway, which celebrated its 10th anniversary at the weekend, but smaller than the one at Moreton. It will create around 10 full-time and 20 part-time jobs and is expected to open in May.

“I am really excited to be opening a brand new store in Winchcombe," said Mr Warner. "Our aim is to employ local people and the evidence so far is that there is a vast wealth of experienced people based in Winchcombe, so we are looking forward to starting the recruitment process.”

Also looking to recruit around 20 full and part time members of staff is a new Premier Inn, in Chipping Norton, which is due to open in summer 2017.

Planning permission was granted for the 72-bed budget hotel, in Spring Street, last year and is expected to create secondary economic benefit of an estimated £1.1million.

The site is expected to create 20 full and part-time jobs and create secondary economic benefit of an estimated £1.1million.