URBAN areas in Scotland and the south of England are the hardest hit as deserted high streets and city centres hampering Britain’s jobs recovery, research suggests.

Aberdeen recorded the steepest fall in job vacancies with a 75% year-on-year decline, according to the Centre for Cities think tank. It and jobs site Indeed found that seven months after the nationwide lockdown was imposed, vacancies have failed to return to pre-Covid levels in all 63 towns and cities analysed.

Aberdeen was followed by Edinburgh with the second-steepest drop of 57%, then Belfast and the West Sussex town of Crawley (both 55%). London has seen the sixth-biggest fall in job postings at 52%, while overall UK vacancies are 46% behind last year’s level, the report said. It said the rise in the number of people working from home has dried up demand for local services in big cities.

While no area of the country or sector has escaped the labour market crisis, those where high-street footfall returned to normal more quickly, such as Birkenhead, Chatham and Hull, have seen a faster recovery in job vacancies, the report said.

Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “While unemployment continues to rise, the number of jobs available to people who find themselves out of work is far below its level last year in every single large city and town in the UK.

“This could have potentially catastrophic long-term consequences for people and the economy.

“The Government has told us to expect a tough winter and while local lockdowns are necessary to protect lives, it is vital that ministers continue to listen and reassess the level of support given to help people and places to cope with the months ahead.

“The Chancellor made welcome amendments to the Job Support Scheme which should help save jobs, but many places across the country didn’t have enough jobs before the pandemic hit so creating more will be vital to prevent long-term damage to their local economies.”

Pawel Adrjan of Indeed said: “The timid recovery in job vacancies is a portent of the distress towns and cities could face if restrictions continue to spring up in parts of the country already reeling from imposed lockdowns and reduced footfall.

“With the remote work trend showing no sign of abating, and entire regions being placed under stricter control, service jobs in large towns and cities could become scarcer still and pull the UK into a jobs spiral. That could mean a very long winter ahead for the millions of people currently unemployed.”