THE new Labour administration on Caerphilly council must now deliver 400 jobs to Blackwood by Christmas, according to the local authority’s former leader.

Plaid Cymru’s Allan Pritchard, who lost his Penmaen seat at the council elections and is chairman of the Islwyn constituency party, said Labour must now deliver on an issue that was a main plank of its campaign during the local elections.

The Labour group focused on Caerphilly council’s refusal to allow a supermarket at the Blackwood Gate Retail Park, in what Mr Pritchard described as "propaganda" distributed before locals went to the polls.

Morrisons had been lined up to create between 250 and 400 jobs there before the end of the year, with Labour members roundly criticising the council’s decision to reject the move on planning grounds.

But, now Labour is in power, Mr Pritchard called on the party to keep their pre-election promise and overturn the planning decision.

He said they must deliver on their "number one priority", adding: "Failure to deliver will consign the rest of their promises to the dustbin".

Mr Pritchard has written the date in his diary to do his Christmas shopping at the new Morrisons store and urged locals to do the same, saying: "If they find the doors locked then knock on the doors of those who made the promises to you."

Blackwood’s Labour councillors responded by saying they met representatives of Linnell Investments - who own Blackwood Gate Retail Park- on Friday and hope to have the matter back before council planners next month.

Councillor Nigel Dix, who has been a vociferous campaigner for the supermarket, said: "If Mr Pritchard and his Plaid Cymru colleagues had supported the application, we wouldn’t be in this position."

But, he added: "The Labour group is pushing and it’s a priority for us to get this resolved as soon as possible- we won’t let the people down.

"We are doing our damnedest to create a good case for jobs for Blackwood and get it back before planners in the next few weeks."