THE North-East has become the first region in the UK to launch a training programme to tackle predicted skills shortages in civil engineering.

Fears have been raised about future employment in the sector and its popularity among young people, which could lead to a shortage of skilled workers.

While many universities and further education colleges offer courses in engineering and manual work, there has been an absence of programmes to train civil engineers.

In a partnership between the North-East Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and Newcastle College, the region has become the first in the country to pilot a vocational qualification to promote the profession to young people and women.

The course, which will include practical experience and will lead to the NVQ 2 and 3 qualifications that are necessary to work on sites, will accept its first intake of students on Tyneside in September.

Its future will depend on how many students take the course.

Douglas Kell, director of CECA, said he was confident the course would prove popular, and that negotiations were under way with several of the region's colleges to run it.

He said: "We are at the forefront of promoting civil engineering training and the efforts to ensure that young people are aware of it and consider it as a career.

"There needs to be more knowledge and understanding of civil engineering among young people.

"The courses that are already running in engineering are full but, too often, the graduates are lost into professions like accountancy, or down routes other than civil engineering.

"That is why it is so important to launch this course directed at civil engineering, and providing a skills base for the future."

Peter Samuel, North-East chairman of CECA, said it would also be a positive step in boosting the profile of the sector.

He said: "A lot of what happens in civil engineering is underground and not in the actual construction, but its crucial role is that a building wouldn't go up without it.

"Digging trenches may not seem the most glamorous or difficult task, but when you consider how exact the planning and measuring has to be in order for the subsequent building to be right, and all the health and safety aspects of working in outdoor conditions, it is more obvious there has to be a high level of training."