Thousands of jobs could be created if the Government acts on pleas to relocate its departments to the Westcountry.

Devon County Council is backing calls for civil servant jobs to be moved out of London and into the region.

A Labour MP has tabled a Bill which proposes relocating key departments out of Whitehall to the North, the Midlands and the South West – although not as far west as Devon and Cornwall.

Now, Devon County Councillor Gordon Hook has called for the Westcountry to be considered, saying that the stunning landscape would be an incentive for highly-paid civil servants to move. His plea will be backed in a statement from the authority's cabinet at full council meeting today.

The Lib Dem made the case on his personal blog, saying high-speed internet means there is no need for such London-centric staffing, and cited the Met Office relocation of proof that it could work.

He wrote that he realised nothing would change quickly, but said UK Government was "too centralised" and that the South West economy was in need of stimulation.

"The physical environment of the South West is one of its greatest assets and needs to be marketed at every opportunity," he wrote.

He said there was a strong case to relocate departments to boost economies, and to ease pressures such as traffic congestion and pollution in the South East.

Mr Hook suggested civil servants would be "considerably more likely" to want to move to the Westcountry. "After all, the beauty of Devon or the 'attractions' of Newcastle? It's surely a proverbial 'no brainer'," he wrote.

Councillor William Mumford, Devon County Council's cabinet member for economy enterprise and employment, confirmed he would support the campaign at today's full meeting. He said: "There's a growing testimony of the benefits of centralised departments moving to the South West."

Bassetlaw MP John Mann called for departmental relocations in a presentation Bill in the House of Commons. Such Bills are not debated or put to the vote, but remain on the order paper.

The Labour MP suggested moving several departments including those of the environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) to Bristol; transport to Birmingham; culture, media and sport to Manchester; and communities and local government to Liverpool.

Three years ago, only three of 70 staff agreed to relocate when the Marine Management Organisation was moved from London to Newcastle, after the Westcountry was snubbed as a potential location.