BLACKBURN with Darwen Council has 16 new apprentices taking on a variety of roles in the borough.

The new starters will work in children’s services, IT, health and environment.

The apprentices are; Alex Port, Nikita Ferrie, Heeba Toheed, Danny Baron, Joanne Whitworth, Riaz Osman, Leah Pemberton, Jake Martin, Luke Richardson, Ammaar Rasul, Aisha Bagdadi, Roohena Khan, Sophie Taylor, Morgan Jackson, Sam Otley and Wes Fenton.

Cllr Mohammed Khan, leader of the council, said: “We are very invested in young people at the council and I think this is a great place to work, these young people have definitely come to the right place to start their careers.

“We have had so much inspiration and talent through this scheme and I look forward to the contribution that this group of young people will make.”

Harry Catherall, chief executive of the council, who started his career as an apprentice, said: “I am thrilled to welcome all our new apprentices to Blackburn with Darwen Council. We are very proud to have them here and will do all we can to help them succeed."