A BID for up to £3 million government cash to attract young teachers and social workers to the south of the county by giving them a financial hand on to the housing ladder has failed at the first hurdle.

Buckinghamshire County Council heard this week that the application, which would have helped up to 100 young professionals, had been turned down.

The bad news will do nothing to help the serious shortage of social workers in the county. Forty per cent of posts for social workers are vacant, compared to three per cent nationally.

John Beckerleg, head of social services in the county, is mystified. "You can imagine the strain this puts on the rest of the team. There is a limit to what they can be expected to do," he said.

As a result the department has to take on agency staff at double the costs.

The county council has had no explanation from the Housing Corporation, which examined the bids for the Government.

Members cannot understand why the council bid failed when another to help nurses, police, firefighters and ambulance workers in the county got through to the next stage.

The government scheme, Starter Home Initiative, will make £50 million available this year to help key public sector workers in areas where house prices are high.

The county council does, however, have its own schemes to help fight the chronic shortage of teachers and social workers, thanks to an extra £500,000 put into the budget this year to find and keep staff.

The successful bid was made by the Chiltern Hundreds Housing Association on behalf of South Bucks NHS Trust, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Two Shires Ambulance Trust, Thames Valley Police, Bucks Fire and Rescue Service and Aylesbury Vale Healthcare Trust.