A RYEDALE father-of-ten has swapped the factory floor for the office after hanging up his meat cleaver for the last time.

Martin Porter, from Scagglethorpe, near Malton, spent ten years as a butcher at Malton Bacon Factory.

But he was signed off sick in May 1999 due to illness and spent months on Incapacity Benefit, working part-time at Kwik Save supermarket, as he waited for two operations.

As part of the New Deal scheme for disabled people he began studying information technology at Yorkshire Coast College in July.

And 37-year-old Mr Porter landed a permanent job at the Ryedale IT Centre, Castlegate, Malton, before he had even completed the course.

Mr Porter said he was over the moon to get the job after such a drastic career change.

He said: "I am doing something that I enjoy and it's good to have been given a second chance.

"The college have been very good at instilling confidence in me, and it has all worked out brilliantly."

Mr Porter, whose eldest daughter is 13 and whose youngest son is seven months, with five girls and three boys in between, said he had received plenty of help with his homework.

He said: "The older children know an enormous amount about computers that I did not know beforehand."

He said moral support from his wife, Hilary, had been invaluable as he sat exams at college in Scarborough.

Mr Porter started at the IT Centre on a work placement through the scheme.

Paul French, marketing officer at the Yorkshire Coast College, said he had been one of the first successful students.

He said: "It's been a continuous process with the New Deal scheme.

"Martin has had the commitment and we have had the facilities for it all to come together."

Ian Calvert, disabilities manager at the Employment Service, said the scheme was aimed at giving people on Incapacity Benefit the chance to get off benefits and back into employment.

He said: "The work preparation is individually tailored to give practical experience and boost the confidence of those taking part, helping people back to work."

Updated: 11:51 Wednesday, December 05, 2001