THE number of unemployed people in Chesham and Amersham has risen - bucking the national trend.

New figures from the House of Commons Library show unemployment rates in the Chesham and Amersham constituency went up by 2.2 per cent in July.

Its unemployment figures place it 592nd out of the 650 UK constituencies, but MP Cheryl Gillan said she was disappointed at the statistics.

She said: "The latest figures are a disappointment, but they need to be set in context within the national picture. Nationally, the unemployment rate was down 46,000 on the previous quarter. The unemployment rate was 8 per cent, down 0.2 per cent on the previous quarter.

"Nationally, unemployment is down. I hope that locally we will also soon return to the downward trend."