Local government shed 195,000 jobs in the 12 months to September 2011 –making up almost three-quarters of all the public sector jobs cut, according to latest official analysis.

Public sector employment in the UK dropped by 4.4% over the year ending last September, with a loss of 269,000 jobs – but in local government it fell by 6.7% or 195,000 jobs, making up the lion's share of the total, according to analysis of regional trends from the Office of National Statistics.