THE first new recruits employed through a council's recession-busting employment scheme have started work.

Forty new staff have started working for Greenwich Council with the task of keeping the borough's estates and public spaces clean and tidy.

The workers were handed the roles as part of the council's £7m initiative in which Greenwich residents were invited to apply for 250 new jobs on a 12-month contract.

Many of the new staff come from areas where employment rates have been hit hardest by the recession, including estates like the Oaks, Glyndon and Woolwich Common.

They will work in teams, with some focusing on town centres, some on housing estates, and further teams tackling litter in streets.

Council deputy leader Peter Brooks met the recruits as they completed their week-long induction at the Greenwich Work and Learn Centre next to North Greenwich station.

He said: “It was great meeting these new staff, who are clearly very enthusiastic about having the chance to make a difference to their local environment.

“This scheme really is a ‘win-win’ for everyone – as well as giving much-needed work to 250 unemployed local people during a difficult recession.

"It’s also adding extra resources in the council’s battle against fly-tipping, litter and other environmental problems which people quite rightly see as a concern.”

When the scheme was announced in July, the leader of Greenwich Conservatives, Cllr Spencer Drury, labelled it as a "cheap" political stunt designed to woo voters before next year's local elections.

He also accused the council of wasting £1m on "excessive" costs in employing new managers to run the scheme, claiming a further 60 extra posts could have been created if the programme was managed by existing staff.

But Greenwich Council leader Cllr Chris Roberts maintained the scheme was introduced purely as a means of creating "an even cleaner, greener and safer Greenwich.”

The remaining 210 staff are due to start work by mid-October.