Unemployment has unexpectedly risen to a near five-year high with the jobless rate among young people at its worst level for more than a decade, official figures show.

"It's demoralising. You get a reply saying you haven't made it. What makes other people better than me. " The words of Lukas Karciauskas, 21, one of an estimated 1,400 young people in Peterborough looking for work.