A YOUNG father has put his problems in the past and gained a foothold on the employment ladder.

Anthony Pinchbeck, who is sitting exams at the Eston Centre for excluded pupils, in Eston, near Middlesbrough, is enjoying a work placement at Graham Engineering, in Seamer, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

The 16-year-old, from Guisborough, has worked hard to turn his life around after daughter Riley was born nine months ago.

He said: "It is really good, I am really enjoying it. I go one day a week and have to be there for 8am, so it is really like working properly.

"I am learning a lot from my day at the engineering firm and I am determined to get a job so that I can support my daughter."

Anthony, who attends the Eston Centre, which specialises in catering for students classified as in education other than at school (Eotas), spends the rest of the week working on his education.

Ron Gordon, who works at the centre, said: "The youngsters get referred to the centre if they have been excluded from mainstream education, but they still have to work within the national curriculum.

"Anthony has shown that if you put the effort in, you can get yourself into a position where you can find work in a difficult marketplace.

"Eotas centres provide an environment for young people to get their lives back on track and get an education that will benefit them when they start looking for work."