TOWN councillors in Keighley have 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". NEET stands for "not in education, employment or training".

Anna Shepherd, the development manager at Joint Activities and Motor Education Services who outlined the initiative to councillors, said: "Historically Keighley has had high numbers of NEETS among its young people. 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 said she and her colleagues had identified 161 NEET 16 to 19-year-olds in Keighley.

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

She asked whether the council would be prepared to apply for up to £10,000 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.

She emphasised that NEET Free Keighley needs relatively small sums of money. She said this cash can, for example, be used to make sure a young person is properly clothed and equipped for a job interview or apprenticeship role.

Keighley Town Mayor, Councillor Javaid Akhtar, praised the project, pointing out that it was right for the town council to get involved with this kind of initiative.

And Councillor Barry Thorne argued in favour of going ahead with the application to the national organisation.

"We need to participate in this," he said. "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 of Awards for All money to help NEET Free Keighley.