ALMOST a quarter of adults in Warrington have below average reading and writing skills and people in the town's poorest areas are the lowest performers, according to new statistics.

The new figures show that parts of the town - Orford, Bewsey, Great Sankey, Longford and Westy - have some of the worst literacy and numeracy skills in the country.

And the divide between the worst and best performing parts of the town seems to be drawn along a north/south line.

National figures show Warrington fares better than many other UK towns because of the high skills of people in areas such as Appleton, Grappenhall and Lymm.

Julia Dowd, executive director of Cheshire and Warrington Learning and Skills Council, said that the figure shows the need for initiatives that encourage adults to seek help.

She said: "We try to encourage individuals to learn and employers to train.

"Everyone with a stake in the social and economic well-being of the town should realise there is a need to develop a culture where learning does not stop the day people leave school, college or university.

"If we could achieve this, we would develop a fundamental shift in a country where high proportions of people are not engaged in learning."

The figures show that more than 40 per cent of people in Longford have poor skills in numeracy and literacy with a further 10 per cent having very low skills, making it the lowest performing ward in the borough.