The number of nursing vacancies at Oxfordshire's major hospitals has risen, despite attempts to attract new staff to the area.

There are 344 empty posts within the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust - more than 15 per cent of the 2,000-strong workforce.

Even though managers have been working on a range of schemes to recruit new employees at Oxford's John Radcliffe, Churchill and Radcliffe Infirmary, and The Horton, Banbury, the figures are higher than six months ago, when 313 nursing jobs were vacant.

Nurses are being offered flexible working hours and a range of benefits, including cut-price child care and public transport.

Managers are also offering jobs to newly qualified nurses from Oxford Brookes University and taking part in careers fairs.