Two teenage girls have been taken on by a top construction firm through a ground-breaking Bradford project.

Emma Bolton and Monica Williams are among five young people accepted by Lovells, one of the UK's leading affordable housing companies, to work on the £45 million refurbishment of former Council-owned properties in Bradford.

They have begun seven-week placements after being placed through the pioneering YouthBuild scheme, run by the Bradford-based B&N Group.

The project aims to get mainly ethnic minority youngsters with few employment prospects trained up for jobs in construction.

Thousands of jobs are expected to be created in the industry in Bradford over the next few years as scores of major projects come on-line. But the sector is still desperately short of workers.

The pair are the first girls placed through the scheme by YouthBuild employment officer Chris Ward and could eventually get permanent jobs. Mr Ward has so far placed 13 young people in full-time jobs with an additional six on placements.

"It is unusual for us to get two girls onto a construction site, but it was something that we wanted to do," he said.

"They feel that they have something to prove because it is a male-orientated thing. I've told them what to expect and I think that they will cope and go on to make it."

Walter Knowles, regional director for Lovell in the North East, said the firm - part of the huge Morgan Sindall group - was delighted to take part in the project.

"We are already involved in a number of other similar schemes across the country and we have been impressed by the Youthbuild scheme," he said.

"We are looking forward to becoming further involved with them in conjunction with Bradford Community Housing Trust's Route into Employment scheme. We firmly believe that having a fully trained, committed workforce will lead to long-term benefits, not only for Lovell and the wider construction industry, but also for local communities."

Sharon Tyer, regional training co-ordinator for Lovells, said she had been impressed by the five recruits since they started work on site.

"They are doing brilliantly and really seem to be enjoying it," she said. "Girls are still very much in a minority on building sites but we are doing what we can to make the job more appealing."

Les Thorpe, head of investment and regeneration at Bradford Community Housing Trust, said he was very keen to employ local labour on its £175 million, five-year programme of refurbishment which is now 12 months in.

"We want to achieve as many meaningful jobs as we can for Bradford people over the next four years ," he said.

"That involves new apprentices and also retraining older workers. There is a huge shortage of workers in the construction industry and we need to cast our net far and wide."

The YouthBuild scheme won plaudits from Government Minister and Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe earlier this year for its work in helping youngsters from ethnic minority communities who have left school with few qualifications.

It offers youngsters training, personal development support and, ultimately, placements with firms.