A training agency responsible for increasing job prospects in East Lancashire is one of the best in the country, according to new league tables.

ELTEC, the East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council, is fourth overall out of 74 TECs nationwide.

The league tables are drawn up by the Government to measure how the TECs are performing in areas such as training and job prospects for school leavers and the unemployed.

ELTEC was the best in the country for getting teenagers to complete National Vocational Qualifications and the most successful at meeting the Government guarantee for an XTEND training place for every school leaver.

Half the unemployed participants on the Target Training scheme went on to gain jobs and almost 100 employers have achieved the prestigious Investors In People award from 400 who have committed themselves to it. Chief Executive Mark Price said that ELTEC's record over the last three years meant it equated to being the third most successful TEC in the country.

He said: "In East Lancashire we have a number of special challenges, especially the decline in manufacturing over the last decade.

"Yet local business, commerce and education have come fighting back, working with ELTEC to improve the region's skills base and improve job prospects."

And chairman Bill Davies said the tables did not tell the whole story about ELTEC's work.

"It is a great accolade to appear so high up in the ranking of all TECs, but the successes we enjoy every day, working with individual local employers and community partners, is what we most value."

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