The number of new jobs in the finance, insurance and accountancy sectors in Sussex is at its highest level for two years.

Experts at the Crawley office of recruitment firm Alexander Lloyd said vacancies increased by 60 per cent during September, which indicates the region is in a healthy economic state.

The firm said the number of trained, qualified and experienced people is not enough to meet the demand although companies were putting more resources into staff training and improving packages to retain key employees.

Operations director Neil Quarendon said: "The jobs registered last month were at an unprecedented level and were influenced by the remarkable demand for permanent staff in insurance and financial services.

"Finding the right candidates to fill these vacancies is proving difficult for those companies who rely on their own resources and many are seeking help from the experts."

While the jobs picture looked healthy there was concern over the widening gap between job vacancies and people available to fill them.

He said: "In the short-term, this could slow down the expansion plans of some organisations."