A group of Liverpool school pupils laid the foundations for a bright future in the construction industry.

90 youngsters from schools across Liverpool participated in a series of sessions as part of Built Environment Awareness Day on Wednesday, during which they got hands-on experience in each area of the industry.

The day was a joint initiative between construction companies Balfour Beatty, Vinci, Morgan Ashurst and Liverpool Community College, which hosted the event.

The sessions, held at the Vauxhall Road campus of Liverpool Community College, explored areas as diverse as project management, brick laying and computer-aided design (CAD).

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An exercise that looked at the planning of a construction project from start to finish encouraged the Year 9 pupils, to consider all aspects of the industry rather than just the traditional trades that are usually associated with construction.

Pupils also had the chance to use state of the art design software which is normally reserved for top professionals when they are challenged to produce a computer generated image, which are used to show how the finished construction will look.

This is the first time an event of this type has taken place in Liverpool and it is aimed at encouraging more youngsters to take the Built Environment diploma, which can be studied at GSCE, A Level and university standard.

Councillor Keith Turner, Liverpool City Council's Executive Member for Education, said: "The BSSS scheme will completely transform education in Liverpool and one thing we want to encourage is skills and jobs for Liverpool people.

"The construction industry offers highly skilled and well-paid employment, and we want to help local businesses develop the talent of the future."

(CD/BMcC)