EXPANDING engineering company, The Tanfield Group, is investing in its future workforce by creating five new positions for trainees.

The company, based at Tanfield Lea, near Stanley, currently employs more than 200 staff.

It has further boosted those resources with the appointment of new engineering Modern Apprentices.

Adam Nelson, Luke Reay and Andrew Nicholson, all 16, are developing skills in sheet metal fabrication.

Meanwhile, Luke Hardy and Steven Hardy, also 16, have joined Express2Automotive (E2A), the group's specialist automotive components manufacturer.

The Modern Apprenticeship programme enables the new recruits to earn a wage while gaining practical skills through work-based training, as well as attending college to obtain National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs).

As testament to the Tanfield Group's commitment to skills training, all the apprentices are spending their first year at the South West Durham Training Centre to gain a thorough grounding ion key engineering skills.

The young engineers will then widen their experience and knowledge with three-years of practical "in-company" training, to achieve an NVQ level 3.

Mark Hutchinson, production director for E2A, and co-ordinator with South West Durham Training, said: "As the company continues to thrive and expand we need to ensure that we have a workforce equipped with the vital skills to support this growth.

"The apprentice programme is an important supplement to our existing training initiatives. By investing in apprentices our focus is firmly on the future.