A NEW drive to recruit young people into nursing is training its first cadets to work among two rural communities.

A two-year initiative by the Durham Dales Primary Care Trust is the first of its kind in County Durham and Darlington. The six trainees will be given work placements in doctors' surgeries, health centres and community hospitals across Wear Valley and Teesdale.

The students started a course at New College Durham on Monday. They are joined by Emma Calver, who is a social care apprentice. At the end of their two years, they will be given a permanent contract with the Trust.

Christina Howarth, the trust's director of Nursing and Patient Services, said: "The course will provide the perfect learning route for young people to enter the nursing profession with the chance to gain academic qualifications."