BRIDPORT Town Council has taken the first steps to making Bridport a Living Wage Town.

Bridport Town Councillors agreed to start the process at their meeting last week.

Cllr Julian Jones proposed the idea and was supported by most of his fellow councillors.

He said the first step was for the council to work with the Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce and the Bridport and District Tourism Association to find out about current wages.

His motion also included urging consumers to support the initiative by accepting - and welcoming - the

fact that in some cases prices may have to rise to reflect the true cost of the goods or the services.

The first stage of making it a reality, he said, would be to require all tenders above £10,000 to include a criteria that the firm submitting a tender is a living wage employer.

He also wants the larger grant aided organisations, such as the arts centre, museum, CAB and leisure centre, encouraged to support the living wage proposal.

Cllr Jones said: "We already pay all our staff at least the minimum wage but we do have the opportunity to influence our contractors and grant aided employers to request them very firmly to come on board.

"But the main objective is to kick start a voluntary, collective decision by all the other employers in Bridport.

"I have a lot of confidence in the town's employers that they will be open to this proposal."

He said for the solution for firms who don't want to lose their competitive edge is for all business to sign up together.

He said there had been research to show there are a lot of benefits to employers - it is very motivating, absenteeism tends to drop by a quarter, retention of staff is better and if people earn more they can spend more in the town.

At least a quarter of the workforce in Dorset earn less than the minimum wage and this plays a part in the affordable housing market, he added.

"It is no good just saying we need more affordable housing we have the opportunity to look at the other side of the equation."

He said the council needed to show solidarity with young people in the town and have the living wage apply to anyone over 18, not 26 as the chancellor wants.

He added: "The price of goods has to reflect the cost of producing them. Our consumption cannot be subsidised by someone else's poverty wages

"Six months from now I would really like to walk up the street and see a sticker in every business window saying 'We are a living wage employer'. If we did that we would probably be the first town in the country to do so and set an example to others.

Cllr Kevin Clayton said: "It says an awful lot about the town that we send out a message that we truly value human work."

Cllr Keith Day and Cllr Jeremy Brodie sounded note of caution.

Cllr Day said there were employees who would rather have a job and low wages than no job at all and Cllr Brodie said if goods were more expensive it might mean people shopped elsewhere or on the internet.