ÒTHE fight is not over yetÓ is the message from MP James Arbuthnot, who is keeping the pressure up over the proposals for a Jobcentre Plus in the town.

Mr Arbuthnot welcomed the news that plans for a Jobcentre in Bordon were saved after the Employment Service decided against making the town share the facility with Alton.

The Department for Work and Pensions has bowed to public pressure and will now site a Jobcentre Plus office in both Bordon and Alton.

In a letter to the organisationÕs district manager, Karen Gamester, Mr Arbuthnot said: ÒI am of course very pleased that there will be a Jobcentre Plus outlet in both Alton and Bordon. I think that this is quite the right decision and I congratulate you on listening to the voices that effectively described the needs of Bordon.Ó

However, the MP said that some aspects of the plan for a Jobcentre Plus, which was formed from the amalgamation of the Employment Service and parts of the Benefits Agency, were still of concern.

Bordon, like Alton and Petersfield which is also to get a Jobcentre Plus office, have been singled out as towns with Òpremises constraintsÓ, which employment bosses say means that they become ÒgatewaysÓ, with increased internet and telephone links to access the new services and information.

But the proposed home in Chalet Hill for BordonÕs Jobcentre may prove to be unsuitable for the new-look service.

It may need to start looking for a new home or provide a limited jobs search and benefits advice service.

But Mr Arbuthnot is urging employment bosses to make sure that Bordon has all the services it needs.

In his letter he states: ÒI am worried to hear that local premises constraints might mean that the Bordon office would only provide a ÔgatewayÕ to the full service that would be delivered in other ways.

ÒWhat does this mean? What are the local premises constraints in Bordon? If you accept that there needs to be an office in Bordon, does this not resolve these constraints? Bordon needs a full Jobcentre Plus.

ÒLet me repeat, please, that Bordon is the most deprived area in my constituency. People who are out of work in Bordon are unlikely to have the money or the bus service to be able to travel elsewhere to go to a Jobcentre.

ÒAnd personal interviews are important: To do the valuable work you do in a less effective way - perhaps down the telephone or internet - would be a serious mistake.

ÒYou have already made the right decision by agreeing to a Jobcentre Plus outlet in Bordon, please do not ruin this by turning it into a Jobcentre minus.Ó