A NORTH-EAST secure unit for young offenders is one of the best of its kind in the country, a top level inspection has found.

The 43-place unit at Aycliffe Young People's Centre, run by Durham County Council, was visited earlier this year by a team from the Social Services Inspectorate, the National Care Standards Commission and Ofsted.

Reporting its findings to the council yesterday, social services inspector Linda Christie said Aycliffe was one of the best local authority secure centres she had seen.

The inspectors assessed the secure unit against five standards, including the level of resources available, its ability to improve life chances for young people, the quality of education it provides and its overall quality of performance.

Mrs Christie said the unit's excellent recruitment and selection procedures, in which the young people are directly involved, had resulted in attracting a high calibre of staff.

The report said: "It was clear that everyone involved with the secure unit was striving to do their best for young people to make their experience at Aycliffe the best it can be under the circumstances."

Ofsted inspectors found the unit's educational provision was positive and said: "Young people were learning to behave more appropriately and were engaging in education."

Councillor Christine Smith, cabinet member for social services, said: "Much has chan-ged to move the centre forward and I am pleased to see that the report reflects this.

"Of course, there are still areas requiring further development, but as the inspection report says, the majority of them were issues which managers at the unit were already aware of and were in the process of addressing.

"Overall, it is a very pleasing report and great credit is due to the centre's board of managers, its staff and the young people themselves."