A Middlesbrough teenager has been named the top Retail Achiever at a Celebration of Learning Awards 2003.

Jason White, 18, won the £1,000 top prize, which was sponsored by Savers and organised by the Learning and Skills Council Tees Valley and Connexions Tees Valley.

Jason, who works for Bells Stores and trains with Bells Training, received his cheque and a trophy at a ceremony in front of 500 invited guests.

He had been nominated by Julie Temke, his personal advisor. She said: "It is fantastic that Jason has been named as the winner of this prestigious award. He has struggled against a chronic lack of confidence to successfully begin training with Bells Training.

"He found it very difficult to believe he would be confident to deal with customers or work on a till."

The runners-up were Katie Hambley, 17, from Skelton, and Louise Howden, 18, from Redcar.

More than 300 nominations were received, along with 13,000 votes.