TOWN councillors in Keighley agreed to throw their support behind a scheme to tackle youth unemployment in the town.

They voted to apply for a grant to back a project called 'NEET Free Keighley',which stands for 'not in education, employment or training'.

Anna Shepherd, the development manager at Joint Activities and Motor Education Services, outlined the initiative to councillors at their meeting last Thursday night.

"Historically, Keighley has had high numbers of NEETS among its young people," she said. "It is a bit of an issue here.

"We knew that one funding stream to tackle this was coming to an end and that the new funding would take 12 months to kick in. So, voluntary organisations, Bradford Council and Prospects got together to look at a way of handling this lack of money.

"We've researched who these young people are, what their needs are and we're running a social media campaign to inspire them and show them what they can achieve."

She and her colleagues had identified 161 NEET 16 to 19-year-olds in Keighley.

Ms Shepherd added that by working with them to secure new employment and training opportunities, they had cut the local NEET total in this age group to just 62 in only three months.

She asked whether the council would be prepared to apply for up to £10,000 worth of funding from the national Big Lottery Awards For All scheme to help take the successful initiative even further forward.

"I think £10,000 could make a real difference in breaking down the barriers blocking young people from getting training or employment," she added.

Cash could, for example, be used to make sure a young person is properly clothed and equipped for a job interview or apprenticeship role.

Keighley Mayor, Cllr Javaid Akhtar, praised the project.

Cllr Barry Thorne said: "We need to participate in this. If we, as a council, can't do something for our young people, then there's no point in us being here."

Town council members voted to apply for up to £10,000 worth of Awards for All money.