An ultra-modern £5m training centre to attract more students into the engineering and construction industries and equip them with the latest skills is to be built at Camborne, Pool Redruth College.

The massive investment is part of a £12.4 million package which will be pumped into the newly merged colleges that now form Cornwall College. The merger, announced on August 1, provides a platform from which to maximise the potential of Objective One funding in improving skills, especially in areas such as the construction industry where there are significant workforce shortages.

The college hopes that the new centre, funded with the aid of the Objective One programme, will help the next generation of Cornwall's builders and engineers shed the traditional image of their sectors as "dirty" and male-dominated. Regeneration of the economy under the Objective One programme is anticipated to greatly increase the demands on the construction industry in Cornwall.

The training on offer will rapidly tackle a shortage of skilled labour within the two industries - providing local firms with a bigger and better-trained workforce.

Once complete, the centre will provide 3,168 training places (per year) on a range of courses across all aspects of the construction industry. As well as providing training for new students, the centre will offer courses to people already working in the two industries.

Constructing the new centre will itself provide jobs for over 80 people. Work on the building is due to start in January 2002 and should take 18 months to complete.

Over £2 million in funding for the centre is being provided through the Objective One programme with a grant from the European Regional Development Fund. Another £760,000 will come from the Learning and Skills Council, with a contribution of £2.3 million from the college.