CONSTRUCTION apprentices from Furness swept the board in a North West skills contest.

Furness College, in Barrow, hosted the North West regional SkillBuild competition for a second year.

The event forms part of the largest multi-trade competition in the country. The contests comprises of regional heats and a national final in the autumn at the NEC in Birmingham.

SkillBuild has been running for more than 45 years and sees the very best in construction talent compete to be crowned the SkillBuild winner in their chosen trade.

The Channelside college hosted the bricklaying, carpentry, joinery and painting and decorating and plastering categories.

Visiting competitors came from Accrington and Rossendale College, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Lakes College, Kendal College and Carlisle College.

Furness College claimed a host of top places and had the best results of the day.

The Furness College apprentice winners were: Christopher O’Brien, first in brickwork senior; Thomas Dixon, first in carpentry new entrant; Christopher Fittes, first painting and decorating new entrant and Anthony Criscuolo, first in the painting and decorating senior.

Senior winners may be chosen to go through to the national finals.

The Barrow college's runners-up were: Jed Hughes, second, and Brandon McGuire, third in the bricklaying new entrant; Joe Kelly, second and Honor Fenton, third in the carpentry senior; Sam Huck, second in the joinery new entrant; Jacob Layfield second in joinery senior; Damian Worthington second in plasterer new entrant.

Graeme Shaw, curriculum manager for construction at Furness College, is delighted with the success of the event and the success of his students.

He said: “This is a highly prestigious UK competition so we are delighted that we have once again been chosen as the venue for the North West regional competition. Our students always rise to the challenge and this year have been incredibly successful. We await to see if any of the students’ scores will send some of them to the finals in Birmingham.”

Primary and secondary students get a taste for Barrow college