THE hunt is on to find 60 people to fill new jobs created by Capita at its India Mill base in Darwen.

The firm was due to hold a jobs fair in Blackburn Job Centre Plus today to try and recruit people to fill the vacancies.

The posts are for customer service staff and managers to work in one of Capita's two call centres at India Mill.

One deals with TV Licence inquiries, where the jobs have been created, while the other is with the Criminal Record Bureau, which provides checks people who apply for 'sensitive jobs'.

In total, 500 jobs have been created at India Mill in the two years Capita have been in the borough.

The company refitted two floors of the old mill to create the call centres, and agreed to pay 10 per cent above the area average for the posts in a bid to help pull up average earnings, which are among the lowest in the country.

Capita was attracted to the borough after signing a 15-year deal to provide many of the council's administrative services.

They are also in the process of building a new £5million centre which will house the former council staff -- some 500 of them -- who moved over when Capita took control of the services.

Today's event, organised in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and the council, is specifically targeted at local people.