AN army of people prepared to engage in form-filling is being recruited to help count every man, woman and child.

In April, a census will be carried out across Britain and every family must fill in a form with their details.

The survey will create a picture of the nation so that officials can plan education, health, housing, transport and other services.

The forms take about half-an-hour to fill in, but influence public spending for the next ten years.

However, first the task of getting the questionnaires to people needs to be tackled, which is why Wear Valley District Council is starting a recruitment drive.

Census district manager Graham Pilkington is coordinating the operation, which takes place every ten years. He needs to recruit 76 people, who will deliver the forms, and nine team leaders.

He said: "The enumerators are people who will deliver the questionnaires and will have to bang on doors and meet people face to face."

If you are interested, contact Bishop Auckland JobCentre on (01388) 646400 or Crook JobCentre on (01388) 646500. Team leaders need to be recruited by February 19 and the enumerators by March 20