The North-East has the dubious honour of being the worst place in Britain to be if you are out of work and over 50.

The region has 150,000 people aged 50 to pensionable age who are not working, the highest proportion anywhere in the country.

But the news is not all bad.

An £185,000 war chest has been made available to help those with an entrepreneurial flair to find a new direction - at the helm of their own operations.

Regional development agency One NorthEast has allocated funding to a project, called Prime, which aims to uncover the business aspirations of the area's senior workforce.

The grant from One NorthEast will fund Prime's programme of work in the Region for the next two-and-a-half years.

One NorthEast chairman Dr John Bridge said: "It is important to the North-East's economy that the skills of experienced workers are not lost because they are not in work.

"Starting your own business is a daunting experience, particularly for older people not in employment, and we are delighted to be funding a venture like Prime, which gives such practical financial help and advice."

Prime offers "last resort" loans of up to £5,000 for people who have tried unsuccessfully to obtain finance from banks.

The scheme is not dissimilar to services offered to young entrepreneurs by the Prince's Trust, which can give loans and grants to people starting their business.

The main difference - apart from the age boundaries - is that Prime only provides loans and does not have the same level of one-to-one business support.

George Courtice, Prime North-East regional development officer, said: "For too long the over-50s have been overlooked as a source of potential business talent and Prime aims to increase significantly the number of entrepreneurs in this age group.

"Our primary aim is to enable people over 50 to set themselves up successfully in business and or self-employment."