IT'S been all hands to the pumps at TTE's Wilton International Training Centre, where trainees and TTE staff have been contracted to fabricate stainless steel vessels for the company's new £500,000 process engineering training plant.

The project is a partnership between TTE and the European ERD Fund, Resider 2, for the regeneration of steel communities.

The state-of-the-art training plant simulates real tasks in the petrochemical and engineering industries and allows trainees on TTE's four year apprentice training programmes to sharpen their skills on a fully functional process control rig.

Each floor will have a viewing gallery and will be separated by open mesh flooring.

The rig will be one of the most advanced in the UK and will be able to simulate emergencies in order to evaluate the understanding trainees have of industrial processes.

TTE has two training site on Teesside and one in Scotland. It currently has more than 500 apprentices on its books.

Phil Blewitt, TTE group operations manager, said: "The fabrication of stainless steel vessels for the process rig was completed at our Wilton site. It is an endorsement of the skills base and equipment available at our Wilton training centre that we have been able to use its facilities to fabricate the vessels for training plants at South Bank."

He added: "Working on a semi-commercial project has been a valuable learning experience for our trainees. It has given it added value which should not be understated.