Ryedale residents have come bottom of the class in the region when it comes to basic maths and spelling, according to Government statistics.

The figures, produced by the Basic Skills Agency, show that 25.8 per cent of people aged 16 to 64 in Ryedale lacked "basic skills", compared with the national average of 23 per cent.

The problem is not confined to Ryedale though, as the City of York did little better, with 25.2 per cent of residents lacking basic skills.

Residents of Selby and Vale of York showed an improvement, registering 21 per cent and 20.06 per cent respectively.

People who are said to be without basic skills can be suffering problems ranging from difficulties with spelling to complete illiteracy.

The figures came to light shortly after a Pickering-based adult learning service won a major award - the Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark.

The service, run by Northern Ryedale Community Education, offers adults the chance to learn the literacy and numeracy skills they need to reach the Government-set standard.

This is defined as being: "The ability to read, write and speak English or use maths at a level necessary to function and progress at work and in society generally."

Winning the award means the service qualifies for more Government funding, which will be spent on both extra teaching resources and the teachers to use them.

A target of five per cent of affected adults reached by the end of 2001 has now been set.

But, says Basic Skills Manager Jean Clark, staff are pessimistic about their chances.

Ms Clark said: "There are various barriers stopping people from coming to the classes. They range from childcare problems, to transport difficulties, to outright peer pressure.

"Some people's families, for whatever reason, do not want them to learn, and they have been discouraged from doing that throughout their entire lives."

Ms Clark said that while the Government was taking steps to tackle the problem of low adult literacy, there is still much work to be done.

And she said that achieving the award can only be a good thing in the attempts to improve on Ryedale's depressing statistic.

Ms Clark said: "Achieving the award is excellent news. I hope it encourages people to take part in the classes so we can make some progress in reaching our target.

"Everyone has made an exceptional effort to reach this point.

"We are especially grateful for the hard work put in by our volunteer tutors. Without them, we couldn't have done it."

Alan Wells, director of the Basic Skills Agency, said the problem is not that thousands of people are completely illiterate, more that they lack the levels of literacy or numeracy that most people take for granted.

Mr Wells said: "We have had this problem for many years; it's been hidden for all too long. I am sorry if the figures upset people, but bad news is upsetting. What we do about it is what is important."

Anyone wanting to know more about Basic Skills classes should telephone 01653 694122.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, January 25, 2001