A new Tesco store has been swamped with 4,300 applications for just 150 jobs in the latest example of Britain's desperate job market.
There were almost 30 applicants for each job at the supermarket in Rowner, near Gosport, in Hampshire, which is due to open in May.
Due to the overwhelming response, Tesco asked 826 to attend an interview after applicants filled in answer a series of questions online.
Desperate: More than 4,300 job hunters applied for just 150 positions at a new Tesco store in Hampshire
That list included 55 long-term unemployed who were guaranteed an interview through the JobCentre.
A shortlist were then invited to do a work trial in nearby stores before the final team was chosen.
Nichola Stanley, 40, from Rowner, was one of many local people to miss out on a job after her online application was rejected.
More...
Britons now live in the smallest homes in western Europe: Average one-bed new-build is the same size as a Tube carriage
I'm not getting panicky, Osborne insists despite borrowing remaining stubbornly high at £120.6billion last year
Population of Spain FALLS for first time as foreigners leave because of eurozone crisis
She said: 'We definitely need jobs in Gosport, because the community is dropping like flies.
'Everywhere you look people are dying to get a job.'
The most recent figures for the UK showed unemployment rose by 70,000 to 2.56 million between December and February, according to Office for National Statistics.
It pushed the unemployment rate to 7.9 per cent, further illustrating the fragile nature of the UK economy.
The number of people in employment also fell, while earnings growth slowed considerably, according to ONS data.
The new store is part of the Rowner Renewal project, which was launched in 2007 to transform the run-down estate.
It is less than 10 miles from Whiteley, Hampshire, where 4,000 job-seekers were pictured queuing for a jobs fair last month.
Dressed in smart suits and ties, some turned up more than two hours early in freezing weather before the doors to the recruitment fair for a new shopping centre opened.
Queues of job-seekers turned up to a recruitment fair for the opening of a new shopping centre in nearby Whiteley last month
The South East has the second lowest unemployment rate in the UK at 6.6 per cent, compared to the national average of 7.8 per cent.
But the recent clamour for jobs shows no region is immune from Britain's economic woes.
Store manager of the new Tesco store Nigel Perman admitted he was surprised at the huge number of people applying for a job.
He said: 'We had 4,300 people apply online, which is an astronomical amount of people. I was really surprised.
'It also shows the need for jobs out there. It was great phoning these people and telling them they've got a job.
'They were so ecstatic and grateful.'
The unemployment rate in the UK reached 7.9 per cent, according to the latest figures from the ONS