A series of major projects will bring £1 billion worth of investment to Bradford in the next five to seven years, a meeting of employers at Valley Parade was told.

The huge cash injection, which includes plans for Manningham Mills and the Broadway shopping centre, plus many smaller schemes, is expected to create thousands of new jobs and opportunities for firms based in the district.

But the conference at Bradford City Football Club, organised by Bradford Council and Bradford Vision - also attended by public sector officials - was told that more needed to be done to ensure the new positions were taken by local workers.

Patrick Wiggins, director of regeneration and housing for Bradford Council, said the city was still lagging behind its Yorkshire rivals in terms of employment, but the Council was committed to ensuring that all new projects taking place would use local labour where possible.

All new construction contracts included a condition that such efforts were made, and a target had been set to ensure 75 per cent of all labour was sourced locally.

"There is going to be a £1 billion investment in the city in the next five years and we have to be know how we are going to take advantage of that opportunity," said Mr Wiggins. "The use of local labour will be an obligation on these companies, not an aspiration."

One of the biggest job creation schemes will be at Manningham Mills, where Urban Splash is leading a major regeneration project creating new commercial and residential accommodation.

Urban Splash director Bill Maynard said the ten-year project could be expected to create up to 2,500 new jobs.

James Murgatroyd, head of Invest in Bradford, said the £1 billion investment included £200 million at Broadway and £90 million in Manningham Mills. It had launched a Local Impact Scheme to match employers with those looking for work.

Ian Hastings, of JobCentre Plus in Bradford, said that, despite the unemployment rate falling to 3.3 per cent, there were around 28,000 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Bradford.