A drive to fill 100 apprenticeship places in a year at Surrey County Council is close to reaching its target with nearly five months to go.

So far 77 apprenticeships have been arranged at the authority following the initiative's launch in April. They have been offered in areas such as youth work, administration, social care, IT and customer services.

The council's drive is being run alongside a scheme launched by Surrey leader David Hodge to get 200 teenagers on the career ladder.

Backed by Skills Minister John Hayes, it is within touching distance of its target just months after being unveiled.

It follows the council's call for contractors chasing deals with the authority to include apprenticeships in their bid and a successful campaign last year to fill 200 apprentice places in 100 days.

Surrey's apprenticeship push is part of a drive to stimulate economic growth that has also seen plans put in place to combat the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Kay Hammond, Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: "It's great news that the council is closing in on reaching the century with so much time still to spare but we won't get complacent and will keep up our efforts to fill as many apprenticeship places as possible.

"Apprenticeships give young people an invaluable opportunity to learn on the job and allow employers to build a workforce with the practical skills their organisations need." Surrey has one of the lowest numbers of young people considered NEET in the country with four in a hundred being classed as such. The national average is nearly six in a hundred.