Coffee chain reveals job competition with claim it received 1,701 applications for posts at a new branch in Mapperley, Nottingham

More than 1,700 people have applied for eight jobs at a new coffee shop in an indication of how tough the jobs market remains. The Costa chain said it had received 1,701 applications for the posts at a new branch in Mapperley, Nottingham, after advertising in early December.

The news comes before new unemployment figures due to be published by the Office for National Statistics weds.

A spokeswoman for Costa said the company was shocked at the response for the three full-time and five part-time posts at the shop, which is due to open on Friday. She said applicants for the posts, with wages between £6.10 and £10 an hour, ranged from new graduates to former managers who were clearly overqualified for the positions.

The applicants included employees of the music chain HMV and Clinton Cards, which are among a number of high-street chains forced to call in the administrators in recent months.

More than 1,000 jobs are to be lost at HMV as it closes 66 of 220 UK stores over the next two months. Hundreds of jobs were also lost when Clinton went into administration last year, though many were saved when it was bought by a US company.

The spokeswoman for Costa added: "We've been really encouraged to see so many people wanting to work at their local Costa store."