The economic situation in the Watford area “isn’t all doom and gloom,” the manager of the town’s Job Centre has said.

Job Centre Plus manager Liz Jones has viewed at first hand the worst effects of the recession; witnessing its devastating impact on the hundreds of newly unemployed.

Since the start of the downturn last summer, her staff have seen the number of people registering for unemployment benefit more than double.

Indeed, such was the influx of new visitors to the building, in Exchange Road, that an extension has hurriedly been built, accommodating another 12 help desks.

Mrs Jones’ message, however, is one not of despair but one of optimism. She said: “It has been very difficult for all of the staff because of the sheer numbers of people coming in. A lot of them had never been in a job centre before in their lives.

“We had to adapt to cope very quickly. A lot of these people were higher wage earners with very different skills and aspirations to cater for. It was a huge challenge for everybody but it was the same at job centres across the country.”

The scale of this challenge is born out by the government’s unemployment figures for the Watford and Three Rivers areas served by the centre.

Although down slightly over the last couple of months the figures remain at a 12 year high, with more than 3,000 people in the Watford and Three Rivers Districts claiming jobseekers allowance, according to the Office for National Statistics.

But, with the number of job losses now stabilising is there any reason for optimism?

“Yes,” replies Mrs Jones, “It really isn’t all doom and gloom out there. We had 975 vacancies in September for a variety of roles, not just low paid ones.

“We’ve just had more than 200 seasonal jumps come in for Christmas as well and there are plenty of jobs out there that aren’t advertised with us at all.

“We’re still seeing around 1,500 people a day but those people aren’t all new claimants; they are meeting our advisers, looking for work, or making other benefit applications.

“We can place people into new jobs or just help them with advice and training sessions. We can even give them advice about starting their own businesses. In short, we are here to help people in whatever way we can.”

The Watford Job Centre Plus is open between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. For more information call 0845 606 0234. For advice in existing benefits claims call 0845 608 8583.