Inward investment agency Locate in Kent is on course to beat its annual jobs target by creating or safeguarding more than 5,000 jobs.

With a few weeks still to go before the end of its financial year, the agency has defied the ravages of recession to turn in a good performance in the circumstances.

LiK expects to have handled more than 70 projects by year end, again beating its target.

The job creation figures combine three elements - jobs generated by firms moving into the area or those already here that are expanding; a multiplier effect that adds 0.2 of a job to every permanent job created; and jobs that might otherwise have been lost without its help - safeguarding

LiK will confirm the figures later this month, but Paul Wookey, chief executive, said that given the challenging economic situation he was pleased with the performance.

"We’ve hit all the targets a month ahead of schedule," he said. "Towards the autumn, I was seriously concened we weren’t going to - but the team has pulled out all the sopts and we’ve produced another set of good results."

He said similar targets would be set for the next financial year because Kent still offered investors a great opportunity, especially with the introduction of high-speed domestic rail services later this year.

"We see no reason to pull back. If anything, we go out there and do more," he said.

There was still a lot of interest in Kent and Medway and once funding began to flow more freely from the banks, he was confident investment would follow.

LiK has a number of big projects in the pipeline and details could be confirmed by the summer. "We know there’s a recession," Mr Wookey said. "We have to think a little bit more cleverly about how we go about doing our work."