EAST Lancashire has been highlighted as one of the worst areas in Britain for young people without work and the social skills to get a job, according to a new report.

The Work Foundation identified 12 areas in the UK where the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) was above 20per cent for their age group.

Five were in the North West – Blackburn, Black-pool, Rochdale, Wigan/Warrington, and Wirral/Ellesmere Port.

The other seven were Glasgow, Swansea, Grimsby, Birmingh-am, Barnsley, Newcastle, and Doncaster.

But education bosses in the area said they were aware of the issue and have incorporated the skills into courses.

Across the UK, there are 450,000 young people in this position.

Alex O’Connor, from Blackburn-based Training 2000, said: “This is an issue that we are all too aware of, which is why we have invested considerably in developing our Train Up and Pre-Apprenticeship programmes to help young people prepare for work, or training.

“A lot of young people have become disillusioned and it’s hard for them to be positive about finding employment, or training opportunities.

“We do a lot of work with these young people to help point them in the right direction, with personal and social development support, including how to write a CV, how to present themselves, how to interact with people in a professional manner, and how to get into the right mindset.

“By supporting their literacy, numeracy, and communication development, we help these youn- gsters to build the skills they need, and subsequently become the kind of young people that employers are looking to recruit.”

Report author Paul Sissons warned that many lack the social skills to get a job, and this gets worse the longer they are without regular employment.

He said that these young people need extra help at ‘this crucial point of transition’ from school into work.

With more and more jobs in the service sector, rather than manufacturing, Mr Sissons says too many NEETS lack the soft skills needed such as ‘communication, team working, and customer service’ to get work.