The sector skills council, People 1st, is offering hospitality, leisure, and tourism businesses in London the opportunity to benefit from free customer service training for their staff.

Businesses within the M25 are eligible to apply for the fully funded training courses, which will run until March 2010 in London.

The two courses - a Level 2 award, aimed at frontline staff, and a Level 3 award for line managers - will gain a nationally recognised qualification on completion.

Chris Jefferies, People 1st's sector compact manager, said: "People 1st's research has found that hospitality, leisure, and tourism businesses view customer service as one of the main skills shortage areas for their staff.

"This is a great opportunity for London businesses to provide their employees with quality training in this area at no cost to them.

"These are the only approved customer service qualifications for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector, and they have been specifically developed for these industries."