A COUNTY council has won praise from Prime Minister David Cameron for its efforts to turn around the lives of more than 80 troubled families.

North Yorkshire County Council is one of a number of local authorities in the region who are paid by the Government for successful results under the 'Troubled Families' Programme.

Government figures show that councils across the North-East have successfully intervened to help 937 families from the 2,941 that were being worked with since June last year following the launch of the programme.

Meanwhile, in North Yorkshire 82 families have been successfully helped by either

:: Getting children back into school where they were previously playing truant or excluded

:: Reducing levels of anti-social behaviour and youth crime

:: Moving adults off benefits and into work

Mr Cameron said: "Every month, more and more of the most troubled families are getting help to deal with these issues head-on in North Yorkshire. That is good for those families, your community and our country as a whole.”

County Councillor Tony Hall, North Yorkshire’s executive member for children’s services, added: "No two days are the same in the mission to support families to do things for themselves, to bring about positive change and to maintain that change. We are very proud of our achievements so far."

England's 120,000 problem families cost taxpayers an estimated £9bn a year in benefits, crime, anti-social behaviour and health care.