Local government bosses should lead by example and ensure no staff are engaged on controversial zero hours employment contracts, union bosses have urged today.

The call comes after figures issued by the Office for National Statistics showed the number of people on zero-hours contracts has increased to just under 700,000.

According to the figures, latest estimates of the number of people who are employed on "zero-hours contracts" in their main employment was recorded at 697,000 for October to December 2014, some 2.3% of people in employment, an increse from the previous year when 586,000 or 1.9% of workers had no fixed hours.