New figures show unemployment continues to fall in the Chippenham constituency, while Wiltshire has secured two big investment boosts following successful bids to the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.

Statistics published yesterday by the House of Commons Library show the number of local Jobseekers fell for the sixth time in the last seven months.

Chippenham MP Duncan Hames welcomed the figures, saying: “Encouragingly, this is also true of unemployment amongst young people, which shows a similar month-on-month fall over the same period. The number of Jobseekers in the Chippenham constituency is down by a fifth since the last general election.”

Meanwhile, Malmesbury-based Dyson Ltd and the Porton Down Science Park project in Salisbury will both be benefiting from the Regional Growth Fund, the programme led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to boost economic growth outside the South East of England.

Dyson bid successfully for £3.5 million in funding to speed the development of brand new Dyson technologies for export. Universities, technology and engineering companies all stand to gain from this investment, which reaffirms the South West's place at the forefront of advanced engineering research.

The Porton Down Science Park project, which receives £10 million, will provide 355,502 sq ft of research and development accommodation and facilities for science and research based industries who wish to work alongside the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) facility and the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

The jobs created within the Science Park will be high value jobs and primarily consist of specialised technical and research skill sets. The park will attract a high level of inward investment of both UK and foreign bioscience and health care.

Mr Hames said: “Today’s announcement is another welcome investment in new jobs for Wiltshire. It is a vote of confidence in our area and a well-deserved boost for all the people involved in securing this investment.”

“Instead of concentrating on the City of London as the previous government did, we are making the Coalition Government work for Wiltshire investing in the real economy to support jobs here”.