A SELF-employed decorator has blasted a Government-backed apprentice organisation after it axed funding just weeks after he took on a teenage handyman.

Ray Evans used a £1,000 grant to employ 17-year-old Ryan Ellacott to help him out on painting and decorating contracts across East Lancashire.

But the publicly-funded scheme, designed to help teenagers into work, was scrapped soon after, axing a lifeline for unemployed young people across the region.

And Mr Evans said it meant he would probably not be able to take on any other young apprentices.

The 41-year-old decorator, of Park Road, Cliviger, is currently working on a bumper refurbishment contract for housing association Hyndburn Homes.

He said: “The £1,000 was a great incentive for me to take Ryan on but now they have got rid of that funding.

“I am still going to keep him on because he’s a good lad, but it makes it harder for me and others to take on future apprentices in future.”

Ryan, a Burnley College student, is studying for an NVQ while he works for Mr Evans, with his valuable on-the-job experience counting towards the qualification.

He is expected to train for two to three years before he qualifies fully.

But Mr Evans believes the decision by quango Construction Skills to cut funding will have repercussions for East Lancashire’s young people not in education, employment or training.

He said: “It was great to have the incentive in place. If you are employing a young person with no training, you would expect the Government to give you an incentive.

“We wouldn’t have taken on Ryan without it but it was more than worth it.”

A Construction Skills spokeswoman said: “The funding for this project ended at the end of March.

“It was a single project and it achieved what it was expected to.”