A BUSINESSWOMAN was left short staffed because she could not advertise job vacancies.

Gillian Tyrell, who runs domestic cleaning company Spic n Span, in London Road, Marks Tey, says she has been trying to advertise cleaner jobs with Job Centre Plus for the last two weeks but a system failure has meant she could not.

As a result Mrs Tyrell, managing director of the company, has been so short staffed she and her husband Bob have been cleaning houses instead of looking for extra business and speaking to existing clients.

“I would never take on a job if I thought I couldn’t staff it, so I have no idea how much business I have lost by not being able to go out and meet potential new clients,” said Mrs Tyrell.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions, which runs Job Centre Plus, said: “We know a small number of employers have had difficulties posting job adverts and we are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.”