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Derby City Council will act as the accountable body but the £456,000 cost will not fall on ratepayers.

Funding for the campaign, called Supporting Derby, will come from Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership (£147,500), Learning and Skills Council (£205,000) and Jobcentre Plus (£58,000). The balance (£45,433) will come from the private sector, primarily Westfield, the firm behind the £310m development.

Jobcentre Plus will provide recruitment services and the Learning and Skills Council will provide training. Supporting Derby is being led by Derby City Partnership.

Stage one will be to employ a project manager and set up a training centre to ensure people applying for posts in the Eagle Centre extension will have the necessary skills for the jobs.

The model was used to ensure that 89 per cent of jobs at Birmingham's Bull Ring went to people from the city and that 80 per cent had been unemployed.

Current funding plans will enable Supporting Derby to run until March 31 next year, but it is hoped further funding will be found to enable it to continue beyond that date.

Work on the Eagle Centre is due to end in 2008. It is expected to create more than 2,500 permanent jobs.

Supporting Derby will not restrict itself to finding workers for the new Eagle Centre. It will also recruit for Riverlights and Cityscape projects.

Members of Derby City Council's cabinet have agreed that the council should become the accountable body for the project.

In a report, economic development manager Catherine Williams said: "The project is important. It will help develop a model for structured partnership working on new developments and investments in Derby that will maximise benefits for residents."

She added that a group has been set up to examine the Bull Ring model.

The scheme does not work by preventing people from outside the area getting jobs. Instead, it seeks to make sure people from target areas have the skills necessary for the roles.