THE man responsible for getting the North's unemployed back to work toured the region yesterday.

Leigh Lewis, the chief executive of the Employment Service, visited job centres and Working Links offices in Middlesbrough, Peterlee, Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor.

Alex McCallum, of Middlesbrough, met Mr Lewis at the town's Working Links centre and heard how staff there had helped him find work with the Thanx Group.

Working Links is a joint initiative between the Employment Service, Manpower and Ernst and Young, which aims to help those who have face difficulties finding work.

Mr McCallum, who now works as a junior accountant for the firm, said: "I had been out of work for some time and was beginning to give up hope when I found out about Working Links and went to see if they could help me.

"The people there were really friendly and helpful, and without them I couldn't have got the job."

Mr Lewis - who is responsible for more than 1,000 local offices which helped two million people into jobs last year - also dined at Durham's Ramside Hall, where he met some of the region's leading lights in education, employment and the economy.