North Yorkshire has been leading the way in a Government campaign to get families off benefits and stop their children going off the rails.

Many in York are also benefitting from the help of council staff to get troubled families back on track.

Eric Pickles told the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth the scheme had been a success, helping 52,833 of England's troubled families since April 2012.

The Communities Secretary commended North Yorkshire in particular for its record on providing the support through local authority teams.

Families targeted were those involved in youth crime or anti-social behaviour or truanting who were costing the state an average £75,000 sorting out their problems. The campaign had involved getting children back into school and parents off benefits, cutting young offending, and reducing the cost of such cases to tax payers.

North Yorkshire had 657 cases and had cleared up 516 of them.

In York, 251 cases had been referred to the council and as of May, 117 had been resolved.

In East Riding of Yorkshire, 436 families had been given support and 228 were now better off.

Mr Pickles said: “To have helped so many families so quickly is testament to the hard work and determination of troubled families teams across the country.

“Nobody is saying that troubled families will become model citizens overnight but turning them around starts with getting kids off the streets and into school, giving them a better chance in life, and helping adults into employment or better able to work.

“This is good for the taxpayer, good for the families themselves and good for the communities around them.”