WIGAN Council has picked up an accolade after rolling out the Duke of York's The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award "iDEA) scheme.

The local authority won the won the Digital Leaders 100 award in the "Digital Skills or Inclusion Initiative of the Year" category.

iDEA gives learners of all ages the chance to increase their digital knowledge and develop skills using interactive learning modules that represent different "badges".

Last year, the council was picked to be iDEA's pioneer with more than 1,000 learners completing more than 13,500 badges and nearly 300 people getting their bronze award.

In April, Prince Andrew the Duke of York visited the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh to present bronze winners with their certificates.

Cllr Nazia Rehman cabinet member for resources, finance and transformation at the council, said: “It’s fantastic that we have won this award.

"We are privileged to have been chosen to roll out this pioneering scheme and are extremely proud of everyone who has embraced the opportunity.

"Our partners on the digital task force have played a key part in the success of iDEA in Wigan Borough so I’d like to thank their hard work as well.

“Wigan is the first authority in the country to actively roll out iDEA to all of its residents, young people and staff with a clear plan of action.

"A ‘Wigan badge’ has even been developed, allowing us to track residents taking part.

“It’s because of those who have taken the time to complete their bronze award why iDEA has been so successful, so this award wouldn’t have been possible without those learners.”

The council is working to make residents to improve their computer skills and published its digital strategy in 2015.

Tech Partnership and Lloyds Banking Group have said digital exclusion in the borough reduced from medium to low from 2015 to 2017 and is a lot lower than neighbouring areas.

The local authority has also won the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) award for Digital Council of the Year in the past and were named Digital Leaders’ Digital Council of the Year in 2016.

It has recently been given a four star Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) rating for the third year running, which places the council’s website in the top ten per cent nationally of all local authority websites.

The iDEA silver award can be reached this year which will allow people to achieve gold next year.

Residents of all ages can sign up to iDEA for free.

For more information visit wigan.gov.uk/idea.