CLEANER Lesley Ashton is dusting off her school bag and polishing up her skills!

Lesley, 37, has become the latest employee in East Lancashire to open an Individual Learning Account to help her save and pay for college courses.

Mum Lesley, from Nelson, has now taken two secretarial courses at Burnley College and is trying to get a job in administration .

"Like many parents I have a tight budget to stick to so I was glad of my account. It saved me quite a lot of money because you can get help with course fees."

Under the ILA scheme ELTEC (East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council) offers to pay half the cost of a college course up to a maximum of £150.