YOUNG people are toasting some training cheer delivered by an international drinks giant.

A £5million training scheme was launched by a Diageo with the aim of helping youngsters carve a career in the hospitality industry.

The training, led by Gleneagles Hotel chairman Peter Lederer, is aimed at alleviating unemployment while giving the sector a skills boost.

Around 200 graduates will be offered work experience in roles linked to Scotland's hosting of the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup.

As well as learning bar tending and hospitality, participants on the six-week course will be trained in interview preparation, teamwork and communication to help their employment prospects.

Mr Lederer, a director of Diageo in Scotland, said: "The 2014 Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games coming to Scotland in the same year gives us a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of young people and also to give a real boost to our hospitality industry.

"With Learning for Life, Scotland, Diageo is determined to play its part in seizing that opportunity and looking beyond 2014, we want to build on that by using our business in the broadest sense to help create opportunities for young people.

"We also want to use the programme to encourage the kind of entrepreneurship which has made Scotch whisky a global triumph."