YOUNG asylum seekers in Swindon are severely hampered when it comes to finding suitable education and training, a new report says.

A study of the issue was carried out by Connexions Wiltshire and Swindon, which helps young people from all backgrounds to decide on educational, career and personal options.

It has been published to coincide with Refugee Week, which runs until Saturday.

The study was led by Mike Miles, a Connexions personal adviser who is based at the Swindon Connexions Centre in Temple Street.

Concentrating on two refugee and asylum seeker groups, Albanians and Iraqi Kurds, it found that young members of the communities were often unaware of the educational and training help available.

Language difficulties also caused problems when it came to day-to-day activities such as finding a doctor or opening a bank account.

However, the study also found examples of good partnership between the Swindon Asylum Seeker Forum and organisations such as colleges, social services, training providers, the Learning and Skills Council and Connexions itself. Connexions is developing a training pack for its staff, which it says will improve the situation.