THE secretary of the town's arts council fears the majority of young people in Warrington 'are going nowhere' following damning data on social mobility.

Dr Michael Murphy, from Warrington and District Arts Council, has revealed his concerns following the Sutton Trust's publication of 'the social mobility index'.

The index analysed each of the 533 parliamentary constituencies in England.

Warrington North ranked 476th and was deemed to have 'very low social mobility', while Warrington South came 299th and was found to have 'moderate social mobility'.

The five indicators for the findings were the performance of disadvantaged pupils in early years tests, key stage two tests and GCSEs, as well as the progress of 'non-privileged' pupils to universities and graduates to professional occupations.

"Warrington North came almost bottom in the whole country and Warrington South came in the bottom 50 per cent which is scandalous," said Dr Murphy.

"My opinion is that in practical terms this means most young people in the town are going nowhere.

"In the circumstances, if the council has £3 million to spend it should surely be on increasing breakfast and after-hours homework clubs in the schools, as well as offering bursaries for pupils from less fortunate backgrounds, rather than outdated thinking about providing a youth club."

Dr Murphy believes the town is currently home to 'many opportunities for self-development' for youngsters and is urging for greater commitment from pupils in education.

"Most important is the fact that young people need to study hard to gain qualifications which will lead to real work opportunities," he added.

"This whole concept of a youth club stems from social thinking in the 1950s when Warrington was a poor industrial town where young people needed just a basic education to prepare them for work in the factories.

"The changes since those days have been immense and many parts of the world are producing far more highly educated and more motivated young people than we are.

"The result is that many young people in the town who are leaving our local schools semi-literate and unreliable are just unemployable."

Following the devastating blaze at the former Mr Smith's nightclub doubt was cast on plans to transform the site into a youth zone.

But the council's chief executive Steven Broomhead has insisted that talks over the youth zone will continue despite the delays set to take place.

For further information visit www.suttontrust.com