A former bank manager has hit out at the Government's flagship training scheme as "slave labour" - after being promised a wage of 26p an hour.

The married 48-year-old Braintree man - who says he is too embarrassed to be named - was told to sign up for a pilot scheme for the New Deal programme by Employment Agency staff or risk losing his benefits.

The scheme would have left him with a wage packet of just £7.84 for a 30-hour week - which works out at 26p an hour.

He says the new £3.60 minimum wage is a small fortune in comparison.

"In the days when slavery was legal, a slave had to be provided with his food and a place to live, but I am expected to work for less than the price of a sandwich for my lunch break each day."

He was in banking for almost 30 years before being made redundant in 1996.

As his wife works and the couple have savings, he is not entitled to Income Support and only continued to sign on to get his National Insurance stamp paid.

New Deal works by giving a top up payment of £15.38 a week in addition to normal benefits for those taking part in the job and training programme.

The man was told his national insurance payment would stop if he did not take part in the scheme. But he would have had to pay tax and the first £4 of his travelling expenses, leaving him with less than £8.

He has signed off and is now earning some spare cash trying to turn his model-making hobby into a small business.

A Jobcentre spokeswoman said: "We can not comment on individual cases. The pilot scheme is designed for people who have been unemployed for 18 months or more and is an innovative way to help them get back to work."

"It is difficult to comment without seeing the circumstances and what options he was offered for employment.

"But if it was for a job the going rate has to be paid plus training so it is really worthwhile."

She said people not entitled to benefits only received a "training premium" under some New Deal schemes which provide training instead of full-time employment.

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