COPELAND Council has announced that businesses in the borough can apply for a subsidy to help encourage employment.

Small-sized employers can apply for a £2,500 subsidy towards wages and training costs of taking on an unemployed Copeland resident as a new recruit.

As well as the subsidy, businesses will have access to workplace mentoring support to help develop the candidates within their firms.

It is part of the Copeland Work and Skill’s Partnership which is run by Copeland Borough council in partnership with the Copeland Community Fund and Sellafield Ltd, which have helped to fund the project.

To be eligible for the scheme businesses must be based in west Cumbria, have been registered for over a year and employ fewer than 50 people.

For info email chris.pickles@copeland.gov.uk or call 07385 362798.