KATHRYN BELL has secured a graduate engineering position at Komatsu UK in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.

The 23-year-old completed a degree in manufacturing, engineering and management at Loughbrough University, before returning to the North-East to take up a full-time position with the excavator manufacturer.

She said: "I was one of only a few girls studying engineering at university, so I was always aware that it was usually a job associated with men.

"However, at Komatsu, I have never felt uncomfortable at all and everyone has been extremely friendly and supportive.

"I have been given a great deal of help and am sure that following completion of my training I will have a long future ahead of me."

She is spending time in each department to gain a better understanding of how each works and how the work of one team affects another.

She will then spend the remainder of her training period with the Working Gear team, responsible for the design and manufacture of excavators.

Kevin McStea, senior manager of Working Gear, said: "We recognise that to ensure we continue to have a skilled workforce in place well into the future, graduates and apprentices are an invaluable source of new labour for us."