FENLAND District Council shed a fifth of its workforce in just two years, says one of the country’s leading trade unions.

Head count in the first quarter of 2010 was 715 but in the same period of 2012 this has shrunk to 572.

It puts Fenland among the top councils across Cambridgeshire for shedding staff says the GMB.

The union says Cambridgeshire County Council shed 771 jobs in the two year period- a drop of 12.1 per cent.

Not all of Cambridgeshire district councils however did as well as Fenland with South Cambs for instance losing just four jobs- or 0.8 per cent of the total workforce, 497 posts down to 493.

And in East Cambridgeshire the district council shed 16 of its 228 posts, a reduction of 7 per cent.

Neighbouring Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, according to the GMB, got rid of 77 posts, down 894 to 817 or a drop of 8.6 per cent.

Across all local authorities in the East of England the number of jobs has fallen from 217,500 in the first quarter of 2010 to 187,200 in the first quarter 2012- an overall drop of 13.9 per cent.

Paul Hayes, GMB Regional Secretary said: “What lies behind these statistics is the cold hard fact that this government has destroyed 30,300 local authority jobs in the East of England.

“These cuts have created unemployment, denied job opportunities to young people and cut services as the bankers continue to rip away with their bonuses and their fiddles.

“Cameron’s mates carry on tax dodging to show who is really paying the price for austerity in Tory Liberal Britain.”

Mr Hayes added: “The current economic strategy is a complete shambles and is in tatters.”