THOUSANDS of people in the local workforce do not have the security of any guaranteed working hours, new figures show.

The South West has 2.8 per cent of its employed population on zero hours contracts, the highest rate in the country.

That amounted to 73,000 people in the South West, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics. It showed the number of people on zero hours contracts nationally rose from 1.4million to 1.8m last year.

Mandy Payne, who runs the retail consultancy Spotcheckers and is president of Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said she was concerned about the issue.

She said many store managers were now told month by month what they could spend on staffing.

“It's good for the business community to have that flexibility. It's not good for the employees who don't know whether they're coming or going,” she said.

“It takes a way stability in the workplace. A person working in that environment, if they go onto a zero hour contract, how can they judge their bills or their income?

“I do think it's unfair to the person working but people need jobs.”

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said of the contracts: “We recognise why some industries use zero hours contracts but it's important to treat staff in the right way.”

He added: “There are some good businesses that work on this basis but it can be a challenging manner of working for employees.”

The TUC says the latest figures show what is wrong with the modern workplace.

Business secretary Vince Cable has pledged to ban exclusivity clauses which prevent people on zero hours contracts from looking for other work.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "There are nearly 700,000 workers each week that have no guaranteed hours of work while working on average 25 hours per week.

“What employers are offering workers has seriously decreased while workers often have little alternative but to accept what is on offer. Even skilled workers in the UK face being undercut while wages are stagnant or falling in real terms.”

Do you have a zero hours contract? Do you think they're a good idea? Let us know in the comments.