FINDING employment in County Durham is extremely difficult compared with the rest of the UK according to research published today.

A study, led by jobs site Indeed, has found people in County Durham are among the areas of the UK where they are most likely to struggle to find work.

Rated Britain's tenth-hardest place to get a local job, County Durham is the only area in the North of England that has been identified in the worst ten.

According to Indeed, North Ayrshire in Scotland is the UKs hardest place to find a job - meanwhile Oxfordshire has been named the best place to find work.

'Good transport links needed for jobs boost'

Pawel Adrjan, UK economies and head of EMEA research, explained why finding jobs in County Durham could be harder than most places.

He said: “Although the unemployment rate is close to record lows and the jobs boom has only kept going, our research shows the picture is not the same across the country.

"In fact, jobseekers’ experiences of finding a local job differs depending on where in the country they are.

“In many areas with less robust demand from employers, particularly in Wales and Scotland, it is more difficult for jobseekers to find work close to home, because there are a lot of candidates competing for jobs or there are not enough opportunities for everyone. 

“Good transport links are crucial in ensuring people in those areas are able to reach other nearby towns and cities where there is higher demand for candidates. 

“Our research also underlines how opportunities to recruit global talent may be being missed around the UK, as 40 percent of all clicks from foreign workers on UK jobs are for London. 

“The regions need to do more to make themselves attractive to the global pool of talent if they want to recruit people with the key skills critical to their local economies.”

But it seems Darlington bucks the trend as last month it was named among the UK's best town and cities for employment surpassing the likes of Belfast, Birmingham and Leeds.