LEDBURY'S deputy mayor has criticised suggestions from fellow councillors that June’s jobs fair in the town should be postponed because of the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations.

As things stand, there will be a double bank holiday to mark the jubilee on June 4 and June 5, followed by a jobs fair in Ledbury’s Community Hall on Friday June 8.

Coun Martin Eager and other members suggested in a meeting the town council could be taking on too much to arrange jubilee celebrations and the jobs fair for the same week.

He said: “To postpone the jobs fair seems the sensible thing to do. I just thought it was silly to have such a busy week.”

But deputy mayor Tony Bradford, who has already questioned why money should be spent from the public purse to celebrate the jubilee, in a time of austerity, said: “Unemployed people, to my mind, are more important than celebrating the diamond jubilee.

“The jobs fair was a success last year, and it is growing in momentum. It doesn’t just help people to find jobs. It helps them with their interview techniques and their CVs.

“We have to be seen to be helping the unemployed.”

If the jobs fair goes ahead, it will be the third in a row that the town council has organised.

Meanwhile, residents are being urged to come up with ideas on how the town should celebrate the Queen’s 60 years on the throne.

A public meeting is being held on Tuesday, January 10, and all are welcome to attend and contribute their thoughts.

It will be in the Burgage Hall, Church Lane, starting at 7.30pm.

Mayor Coun Allen Conway said: “I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but I think the jubilee is a very significant event and it’s important that Ledbury celebrates it. I would urge everyone who has ideas to come forward and share them.”