EMPLOYERS in Leigh are the second worst in Greater Manchester for paying staff below the living wage, new figures have revealed.

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics also showed that almost half of all women in the town are being paid less than the amount needed to cover basic living costs.

The data, which was released from the House of Commons Library in April last year, stated that 36.7 per cent of all working people in Leigh were receiving an hourly rate below the living wage figure, which has been agreed at £7.85.

More than 49 per cent of all working women in the area were shown to be receiving less than the living wage — double the same figure for men.

Heywood and Middleton is the only one of the 27 Greater Manchester parliamentary constituencies to register a higher percentage of low-paid staff.

Leigh MP Andy Burnham said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the statistics.

He said: “I know from speaking to people in my surgeries just how hard things are.

“I am also aware of the growing trend of zero-hours contracts and part-time jobs and I was one of the first to call for a ban on zero-hours contracts because of what I was hearing from people in Leigh — I just think they are wrong.”

The shadow Health Secretary said he believed that the figures, however worrying, do not tell the full story of people’s struggles.

He added: “It is not just about pay — there is a real lack of security for people who are in part-time work and zero-hours jobs and that can cause other problems.

“I just think that the way the whole labour market is wrong and needs rebalancing in terms of money and security.”

“I am pleased that the Labour party has taken a very serious approach against zero-hours contracts as well as pledging an £8 minimum wage — these things will help my constituents and this is why people in Leigh need a Labour government.”

Lynn Collins, the regional secretary of the North West TUC union said that in-work poverty was a “growing problem” in the region.

She added: “Extending the living wage is a vital step towards tackling that problem.

“Working families have experienced the biggest squeeze on their living standards since Victorian times, and these living wage figures show that women have been hit the hardest.

“Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom, and it’s time that the government and employers recognised that Britain needs a pay rise.

“Without action on pay and the living wage it will take years to get spending power back into our economy.”