A SCHEME providing transport so that youngsters living in rural areas can get to work has expanded its service.

For a wear-and-tear fee of £2.50 a week, workers and job seekers in North Yorkshire have been using new mopeds as part of the Wheels2Work initiative.

With jobs limited by lack of public transport, young people in country areas are snapping up the mopeds to reach job interviews, new jobs and to attend further education classes.

The scheme has been so popular in Hambleton and Richmondshire that it has now been extended to 20 villages in the Ripon area.

The next step will be to include the whole Harrogate district.

Ten new Honda SFX 50 mopeds have been bought for use in the Ripon area by Northallerton and Dist- rict Voluntary Services Association which runs the scheme.

It was set up thanks to funding from the Countryside Agency and Ripon City Partnership's Single Regeneration Budget.

The scheme allows mopeds to be leased to residents in isolated areas who do not have a car and no public transport to reach jobs.

Although not confined to youngsters, it is primarily teenagers who have taken up the offer.

Scheme co-ordinator Andrew Johnston said: "Judging by the huge success in other parts of North Yorkshire, the mopeds will prove very popular in the Ripon area."