HEALTH officials, councillors and firefighters are joining forces to bid for government funds to help tackle the crippling shortage of public sector workers in the county.

They hope to get a slice of the £250 million starter homes initiative [SHI], announced by the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions last month.

Over the next three years, the scheme will subsidise 10,000 key workers and help them become first-time buyers in the most expensive areas of the country.

South Bucks has been suffering from a shortage of nurses, teachers and emergency staff, largely due to the high cost of housing.

South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, alongside Wycombe, Chiltern and South Bucks district councils, hope to get the cash from the Government to tackle the problem.

The trust needs another 100 nurses to reach full contract staffing levels. Many vacancies are currently filled with agency staff, and they are writing to staff to gauge exactly how much to bid for before the February 20 deadline.

Keith Broadey, director of human resources for the trust, said: "We have written to a lot of our staff who we think will fit this key worker criteria. We need to know what their household income is and gather personal details.

"It [the SHI] will aid us to keep locally trained health professionals and it will also help us to recruit health professionals from elsewhere in the country."

Jeff Goddard, chief fire officer of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "The brigade has not yet been through all the details of the bid but is hoping to be included as the high cost of housing is a prohibitive factor for firefighters, particularly in the south of the county."

On Monday Wycombe District Council's housing and economic development committee agreed to support the trust's bid. Bids, which successfully pass through four stages, will be announced around July. After then health workers would be able to buy half a share in houses in the lower quarter of the local price range.