The number of young people starting apprenticeships across the region is on course to reach record levels this year, new figures have revealed.

Skills Minister John Hayes said the 41 per rise over the past year will help the South West economy to boom in future years.

The statistics come as final preparations are made for National Apprentice Week, starting on Monday, which will showcase the number of firms getting involved.

Across the country, there are as many people starting apprenticeships as going to university, including in sectors such as banking and law for the first time.

But Labour warned there was more work to be done – especially in the crucial 16 to 18-year-old age range at a time of rising youth unemployment.

The figures show 49,330 people started apprenticeships in the South West in 2010-11, up from 35,020 the previous year, and 19,050 in 2005-06.

And provisional data from the first three months of the current financial year suggest the increase was continuing, as there were 16,790, equivalent to more than 67,000 over a year.

The statistics show there were 3,520 new apprenticeships in Bristol last year, up from 500 in 2005-06, with a further 1,040 in the first quarter of 2011-12.

But there were also big increases in rural areas, suggesting that fears the countryside tends to miss out are not accurate.

There were 5,500 in Dorset last year, twice the total of five years earlier, with 1,700 in the first three months of this year.

The total in Wiltshire rose from 1,620 in 2005-06 to 4,930 last year, while Somerset increased from 1,730 to 4,620 in that time, and Gloucestershire from 1,640 to 4,140.

Nationally, there were 175,000 new apprenticeships in 2005-06, 457,000 last year, and 151,700 in the first three years of this one.

Mr Hayes told the Daily Press: “There has been unprecedented growth, and there is now the biggest number in modern history. The independent National Audit Office (NAO) says apprenticeships offer a good return for public spending, about £18 for every £1 spent, and I don’t think any other area of Government achieves that.”

He added: “Clarity of policy, strength of commitment and certainty of purpose has delivered record numbers of starts, outstanding success rates and growth across all sectors. This success, mirrored in every English region, is putting businesses on stronger ground to deliver a more balanced economy.”

“It is equipping young people with the skills that build prosperous careers, and forging communities in which the common good is served through creative endeavour and purposeful pride.”

But Labour spokesman Gordon Marsden said new apprenticeships had dropped among 16 to 18-year-olds.

And the NAO found more than two-thirds of those created in the past five years were taken by people over 25, while 20 per cent lasted six months.

Mr Marsden said: “The latest quarterly apprenticeship figures show the Government is still struggling to achieve any significant increase in apprenticeships for young people in the crucial 16 to 24 age range at a time when youth unemployment has risen above one million.

“We have called on ministers to back our plans to boost apprenticeship numbers, particularly for young people, including through smarter Government procurement.”