Merton’s young people are bucking a national trend of inactivity and unemployment.

Last week the Government pledged to give more help to recession hit young people, as figures showed more of them than ever are NEETs - 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training.

But in Merton just 6 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds fitting in the category - one of the lowest levels in the country, and far below the England-wide average of 16 per cent.

Ian Barnett, programme manager of Merton College’s Education to Employment (E2E) skills course, said giving young people as much choice as possible was the key to the borough’s success.

He said: “There needs to be something that attracts young people in. The programmes need to be flexible and they need to be supportive - everybody deserves a second chance. If you become NEET and don’t do something about it straight away, you stay NEET”

One of the course’s success stories is Raynes Park teenager Akbor Kahn, who was in danger of dropping out of education altogether thanks to a lifestyle revolving around drinking, taking drugs and getting in trouble with the police.

But after finding religion and realising he needed to change his life, the Grand Drive resident enrolled on the E2E course. He said: “I just started feeling like a new person. The teachers were fantastic.”

Akbor recently won a student of the year award at the college, and finished his E2E course with almost 100 per cent attendance. He has now joined an engineering course. He said: “I never thought I would do it - I never thought my life would change.”

Last month the Government said the percentage of NEETs in England had risen from 14 to 16 per cent, or 935,000 people, in the first quarter of this year.

Councillor Debbie Shears, cabinet member for children’s services at Merton Council, said: “The council is committed to improving opportunities for young people in Merton and we’re extremely pleased to see all efforts in this area are paying off. These figures are a tribute to the commitment and enthusiasm of our local youth services, colleges, employers and young people to succeed and invest in their futures.”