ALMOST 30 per cent of Northumberland's workforce was placed on furlough leave, official figures confirm.

HM Revenue and Customs published a breakdown of the number of people who were placed onto the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme by parliamentary constituency last week.

It reveals that 39,300 employees in Northumberland were furloughed out of a possible 132,700 - equating to 29.6 per cent of the counties workforce.

In Hexham, 9,100 employees were furloughed out of a possible 31,400 employments - equating to 29 per cent of the area's workforce.

However the figures also reveal almost 1m people in the North-East and North Yorkshire were not placed on furlough leave despite being eligible, official figures confirm.

It revealed that just three out of 10 eligible workers were placed on furlough leave in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Analysis found that out of 1,320,200 eligible employments, just 393,900 people from our region were furloughed.

This equates to just 30 percent of eligible workers in the region being furloughed and a further 70 percent made redundant, laid off, or continuing to work.

Washington and Sunderland West saw the North-East's highest 'take-up' of furlough with 35 per cent.

However, City of Durham saw the lowest take-up with just 26 percent of eligible workers being furloughed.

The figures are based on data up to June 30.