Chad received an anonymous letter this week from 'beleaguered' staff at the authority, which said they were not happy with a proposal to relocate them to a new office at Ollerton's Sherwood Energy Village next month.

The letter says: "Employees will be moved from Nottingham, Retford, Newark and Mansfield. There are no rail or cycle links to Ollerton and the bus services are sporadic to say the least."

It adds that a staff survey had revealed 91 per cent of people planned to travel there by car — but there would be more than 500 staff at the new offices and only 200 car park spaces provided.

Staff also raise concerns about the impact the extra traffic will have at the busy Ollerton roundabout at peak times because county council plans to make improvements to it would not start until 2010.

But a spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council told Chad there would be a number of benefits from using the new office building.

He said: "The new building will be used from next month by mainly office-based staff from three county council departments — the majority of which are currently based in offices on the east side of the county.

'Efficient'

"Bringing these teams together under one roof in a central location will enable staff to provide a more efficient and effective service to residents based in the east of the county.

"In addition, Ollerton is an area of deprivation so it is hoped that the new building will offer more employment opportunities for local people and its employees will increase trade for the town's shops and businesses."

The spokesman added that a travel plan had been produced encouraging car-sharing and staff would be able to work from home more often.

He added: "Many of the employees already travel extensively to other offices in the county which will be reduced when they work from one site, so further minimising the council's impact on the environment."