unemployment has increased in West Devon since Job Centre Plus branches in Tavistock and Okehampton were closed.
MP for West Devon and Torridge Geoffrey Cox last week launched an attack on the Government after it emerged that since the branches were closed unemployment had risen by 68.5% in his constituency.
Mr Cox, who opposed the closures last year, has tabled a series of parliamentary questions pressing the Government to reconsider its withdrawal of Jobcentres from market towns and urging that a limit should be imposed on the distance people have to travel to obtain assistance.
The Tavistock and Okehampton Jobcentres were closed in March last year as the Government pushed ahead with its programme of Jobcentre cuts — closing a total of 54 branches last year.
The closures went ahead despite unemployment rising consistently since January 2008. In January 2008, 953 people were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in West Devon and Torridge — by January 2009, the number of claimants had risen to 1,606.
The figures are made worse by there being fewer vacancies available in the region compared with elsewhere.
Mr Cox said: 'The Government has shown a disturbing complacency about its response to unemployment in our market towns.
'We are still waiting for the implementation of the much heralded Homeowners' Mortgage Support Scheme and the Working Capital Scheme for small businesses months after their announcement. And instead of providing extra support for those who lose their jobs as unemployment began to rise, they have continued their programme of Jobcentre closures.
'Now that more and more people are falling out of work in West Devon, they have to travel all the way to Exeter or Plymouth to get help — an expense that many can ill afford.'