STAFF shortages and recruitment difficulties are still causing problems for a council department struggling to keep up with a backlog of work.

Ryedale District Council's development control section, which deals with planning issues across the district, has faced staffing problems for several months after three council officers left for other jobs.

Now temporary measures could be introduced in an attempt to deal with the large volume of post gathering at Ryedale House.

In a report to the council's overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday, assistant chief executive Sue Redfern outlines plans on how to deal with the growing mound of letters.

"All pre-application inquiries are to be dealt with on the day by telephone," she writes.

"Advice will be given that at the present time pre-application advice is not available.

"All other written enquiries will be dealt with by returning a 'postcard' explaining the backlog and how long the expected delay is."

Mrs Redfern told the Evening Press that two of the three vacant posts had recently been filled, with interviews due to start soon for the third position.

"We have not had a full complement of staff one way or another for at least a full six months and maybe even longer than that," she said.

"I think we have seen nationally that graduates are just not coming into local government."

She said: "We are putting measures in place to deal with the letter answering, and we are hoping to get other measures in place this week.

"We just need the last member of staff in planning, but we are probably looking at two months from now before that happens."

Local resident Arthur Tait, who recently put in an application for a boarding kennels at his home in Scagglethorpe, said it was "scandalous" that the council were running a department without enough staff.

"I have tried to do my application myself and the difficulties I have faced have been enormous," he said.

"Something needs to be done to change this - it's scandalous."

Mr Tait said pre-application advice was crucial to anyone seeking planning permission.

He said: "I have written a letter of complaint to Gary Housden (development control manager) because I feel we have been let down badly."

A local architect, who asked not to be named, said: "If the planners will not talk to you about their policies and concerns beforehand, you just have to give it your best guess and go in blind."

Updated: 12:09 Tuesday, September 17, 2002