DISADVANTAGED families in North Yorkshire are getting more help than ever.

North Yorkshire County Council has been picked by the Government to take part in an expanded programme to help troubled families after supporting 845 mothers, fathers and children in need.

At the moment, 61 per cent of the hardest-to-help families identified under the programme have been “turned around” and the council believes this figure will have risen to 70 per cent by the end of August.

The Government is now providing £200 million to build on the success and expand the scheme as part of a five-year plan to improve the lives of an additional 400,000 families that are vulnerable to truancy, anti-social behaviour and crime, in partnership with councils from 2015/16.

County Councillor Tony Hall, North Yorkshire’s executive member for Children’s Services, said: “We are more than happy to be chosen to be an early starter in the expanded programme.”