Building a future for themselves in the construction trade are young men from Keighley.

Arnold Dube and James Conner are among local people who have landed paid jobs as part of the £4 million regeneration of their community.

The men are part of a small group repairing boundary walls around terrace houses in the Highfield area.

Other Keighley people are being taken on by the firm responsible for carrying out millions of pounds of improvements to the houses.

And a third set of unemployed Highfield residents could find jobs with a planned new firm which will bid for regeneration contracts.

The work is all being carried out as part of the Highfield Single Regeneration Budget, using a mix of government, Bradford Council and private cash.

SRB chairman Cllr Lynne Joyce said that employing local people gave a double benefit to Keighley.

She said that in many other towns regeneration work had been carried out by firms from outside the area involved.

She added: "We're trying to address that and make sure the regeneration of Keighley involves the skilling-up of the workers of Keighley."

Hundreds of privately-owned houses in Highfield are being refurbished through the SRB, alongside environmental and community project improvements.

About 50 houses have been completed since work started in January, and the first stage -- providing warm, dry and safe improvements -- should be finished by the summer.

Arnold, 21, and James, 18, are part of a small team recruited from Keighley College construction courses to rebuild boundary walls.

They are being paid a proper wage, rather than simply being on work experience, as they help repair hundreds of walls.

The hope is that their employer, Fernlea Industries, will take the men on permanently for its many other building projects around West Yorkshire.

Connaught, the company overseeing the housing improvements as a whole, is also playing its part to ensure local workers benefit from the spending of SRB cash.

It has been given a list of available sub-contractors in Highfield and Keighley and been told to give them "due consideration" when recruiting.

Connaught has taken on multi-lingual Highfield resident Abdul Rehman as tenant liaison officer, to deal directly with residents as house improvement work progresses.

The firm is also likely to offer a contract to a local young man whose firm provides security grilles.

The most ambitious aspect of the "local is best" initiative is a proposal to set up a small construction company employing only Highfield and Keighley people.

SRB and European Objective 2 money would pay for office running costs and a manager, and the firm would eventually bid for contracts with other regeneration and council building projects around Yorkshire.

Workers would be recruited from the dole queue and receive part-time training at Keighley College while gaining experience and confidence with the firm.

The aim would be for apprentices to progress to jobs with mainstream firms, and for new trainees to be taken on.

The apprentices would receive a proper wage and carry out jobs requiring "low to medium" skill levels such as demoliton, clearance and boundary wall repairs.