AN initiative to help the unemployed back into work has been set up by Burnley Borough Council.

Organisations working to support local people who want to learn new skills or improve their personal status have joined together to create a new community facility.

Access Point, in Brougham Street, now provides a single location where information and advice in relation to employment, education and training can be found.

Chairman of Access Point's board, Councillor Peter Kenyon said: "It makes sense to provide the full range of services in one convenient place and Access Point is ideally located for this in an area of relatively high unemployment."

The project has been funded by grants from the European Regional Development Fund, Lancashire Learning and Skills Council and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

The move comes after the report into the causes of Burnley's riots recommended that more should be done to tackle unemployment in the town's most deprived areas. The report found that while overall unemployment figures for Burnley had fallen over the past two years, those figures masked high unemployment in other wards.

Weekly drop-in sessions where representatives from Burnley Pendle and Rossendale Volunteer Bureau, job centres and lone parent advisors will also take place at the centre.

Coun Kenyon added: "By working in partnership, local support agencies can operate more effectively, and therefore more closely match the needs of those who stand to benefit -- that is local people."

A representative from Burnley College is based at the Access Point permanently. Their job will be to provide individuals with tailor-made packages which help secure the best learning and employment opportunities.

Short courses will be held at the centre and help for people with poor English will be made available.