NEARLY 700 council workers in Worcestershire are employed on zero hours contracts - leading to fresh calls to scrap them altogether.

New data from County Hall reveals how 670 workers are on the deals, which the council calls "casual or relief" staff.

Of that figure 491 - some 73 per cent - are females.

On top of that, there are 151 county council workers on temporary 12-month contracts, including people filling in for those on maternity.

The flexible contracts allow the council to have a ready supply of people for vital jobs like mobile library work and school bus drivers, and are especially important to cover sudden sickness.

But the release of the figures has prompted criticism from the opposition Labour group, which wants the Conservative leadership to dump them.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, said: "This clearly demonstrates that women are the biggest victims here, trapped on short-term contracts which offer absolutely no proper way to make a living."

Speaking during a full council meeting, he said staff "feel exploited" and asked the cabinet to end the deals.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, who has just taken over as cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "The easy answer is no, I don't agree with that."

He said the percentages of male and female workers on casual deals are similar to the workforce as a whole, and insisted the contracts allow for vital cover in areas like museums, libraries and drivers where demand is hard to predict.

"I'd like to pay tribute to the members of staff who work on these contracts to help us meet demand," he said.

Later in the meeting Labour Councillor Richard Udall urged bosses to do more to help workers with young children under two, saying many families "struggle to cope" with the demands of their job and home life.

Conservative Councillor John Campion said the authority was determined to bring about better pay but insisted he did not want to create "a cycle of dependence".

"We need to careful not to set up another cycle of dependence and not tackle the underlying issues, which is about creating a better economy and better paying jobs - that's what this administration is focused on," he said.

Ed Miliband made tackling zero hours contracts one of his key election pledges before he resigned in the wake of defeat.