BURY has found itself at the bottom of the pay league in terms of the number of jobs offering the lowest legal wage.

And a shock survey also discloses the town has the highest rate of jobs in Greater Manchester paying a wage which fell below a level beneficial to taking out a stakehold pension.

The figures for Bury Jobcentre are contained in a newly-published "Jobswatch 2000" survey published by Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit.

According to the findings, the national minimum wage has had a dramatic impact on the rates of pay in many previously low paying jobs in Greater Manchester.

Before the minimum wage of £3.60 was introduced, 42.3 per cent of all jobs on offer in jobcentres were paying less than the 1998 equivalent of the minimum wage.

By April of last year, says the Low Pay Unit, not only were most jobs paying above £3.60, but three quarters were offering more than £3.70 although the minimum wage only went up in October. The Low Pay Unit argues that the minimum wage could easily have been uprated by more than 10p an hour and adds weight to calls for the Government to announce a rate of at least £4 at the next uprating.

The survey shows Bury Jobcentre had the highest proportion of jobs, where hourly rates were known, which paid the exact minimum wage.

Bury's figure of 33.9 per cent was the highest of the ten jobcentres surveyed.

Statistics focusing on the proportion of jobs which were paying more than £3.60 showed Bury came bottom of the league again.

In four districts, more than 83 per cent of jobs were paying more than the national minimum wage. But in Bury, the figure was only 65 per cent.

The town didn't fare well either in a survey to determine the average weekly pay for all jobs. Bury's figure of £123.39 was the second lowest throughout Greater Manchester.

Bury also had the second highest number of jobs which were below the Income Support rates for a couple with a child under five and one aged between five and 10, 67.5 per cent.

Bury has also been singled out in a table examining the proportion of jobs which fell below the amount at which the Government says it would be beneficial to a worker to take up a stakehold pension.

The figure for Bury was 77.7 per cent, the highest in Greater Manchester.

Low Pay Unit also disclose that of 298 local jobs in Bury Jobcentre, 57 were for catering, 35 for care work and 26 for cleaning.

There were 23 driving-related vacancies and 22 shop posts.

As far as pay for these jobs were concerned, 4.4 per cent and 10.4 per cent of vacancies had unclear hourly and weekly rates respectively.

Commenting on the survey, Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit co-ordinator Gabrielle Cox said: "We welcome the Government's commitment to improving pay for thousands of workers in the county.

"However, there are still far too many people who cannot earn enough to support their families without having to claim means-tested benefits or tax credits."

She added: "In fact, the numbers claiming top-ups to their wages are rising steadily each month. The Government must turn its attention not only to the quantity of jobs available, but also their quality."