THE organisation spearheading housing market renewal in East Lancashire said courses aimed at bridging the region's contruction skills gap have been a success.

East Lancashire Business reported earlier this month that half of the region's 10,000 construction workers have no vocational qualifications to prove their skills.

It led Elevate to warn businesses they face missing out on lucrative contracts generated by the hundreds of millions of public cash being pumped into massive projects in the area.

The Painting and Decorating Association (PDA) also predicts that around 2,000 people are needed to fill roles in the industry in East Lancashire over the next five years.

Recently Elevate teamed up with local colleges to run taster courses including bricklaying and painting and decorating.

Many students have gone on to sign up for further training leading to professional qualifications and Blackburn College has introduced a range of new evening classes in various construction-related subjects.

Catherine Pickup, project manager for Constructing the Future, part of Elevate East Lancashire, said: "When the rebuilding phase of the renewal programme starts this year it will create a lot of job opportunities right across East Lancashire.

"But we know there is a skills shortage everywhere, which is why we are putting money into courses for local people now, so they will be best qualified to access the jobs on offer.

"We want local people to have this work and we want to empower them so they have the best possible chance.

"The courses created a surge of interest in the many career options available in the construction industry. They introduced a lot of people across East Lancashire to new training opportunities and, in the longer term, new jobs.

"We are hopeful that the Constructing the Future project will attract more funding to help boost the number of NVQ level courses on offer at colleges in the area."