WORCESTER MP Robin Walker has laid down a challenge to Worcestershire - to get 15,000 new apprentices within five years.

After Wednesdays's new jobless figures dealt the city a blow, the Conservative MP says it is vital decision makers don't "let their guard down" on job creation.

Official figures out this week showed how unemployment hit its highest level for five months in February, climbing by 66 to 1,257.

But it is still down significantly on the same time last year, and youth unemployment continues to drop mainly on the back of apprenticeships.

Worcestershire as a whole set itself a target of reaching 10,000 apprenticeships over the five-year period to 2015 but ended up hitting that tally 12 months early.

Worcester has seen the number of apprenticeship starts more than double under the Coalition from 1,830 in the previous five years to 3,820 in the last four.

But Mr Walker now says the challenge must be to go further and faster, and is calling for a new target for the county to create another 15,000 by 2020.

"It is really fantastic to see how apprenticeships have expanded in Worcester and how they are providing such opportunity across a range of different sectors," he said.

"We must continue this progress and take on some of the myths that deter people exploring the apprenticeship route.

"Apprenticeships provide a wonderful opportunity for people to earn a living at the same time as developing valuable qualifications and there is plenty of evidence to show that they add substantially to people’s earning potential over the long-term."

He said the national target is for three million apprenticeships by 2020 but it will require "great investment" to come off, and Worcestershire should play its part.

He said: "I want to see Worcestershire match that ambition and I challenge local businesses, our Local Enterprise Partnership and our councils to deliver not just 10,000 apprenticeships but 15,000 in the next five years.

"To date we have been ahead of the game in meeting that national challenge - let's keep it that way."

The MP spent time talking to apprentices at several city firms earlier this month to get feedback on the support on offer, including at Worcester Bosch inside its new distribution centre in Wainwright Road, Warndon.