Key workers in Oxford will soon be given the chance to buy their own homes with council loans.

Teachers and social workers -- plus other council employees in jobs where recruitment is difficult -- will be offered loans of up to £45,000 towards mortgages.

The experimental project sees both city and county councils joining forces under the Government's Local Public Service Agreement aimed at improving services for local people.

They have been set a target of helping 22 key workers over the next two years. If they reach the target, the Government will refund all £990,000 given out in loans by the councils -- and the initiative will be allowed to continue.

The scheme offers the chance for first-time buyers in key areas of public service to get a foot on the housing ladder.

In addition to teachers and social workers, the county council is continuing to have problems recruiting and retaining engineers, adult and community learning staff, youth workers, care managers and firefighters.

The key worker category is also being enlarged to include planners and social and health care support workers.

These will all become eligible for council loans towards mortgages.

The two councils are under pressure to show that the scheme is needed because the Government has said that 14 workers must have been found homes under it by March next year.

Chris Cousins, the county council's head of sustainable development, warned that if 14 loans had not been taken up, then the Government would withdraw the offer of £990,000 to bankroll the scheme.

"Another risk is that if the price of property falls, the value of the share of the equity in the various homes could also fall.