SIX design engineering apprentices have been offered jobs with Sellafield after successfully completing their training at the company’s Risley office.

After a four year apprenticeship, they celebrated their success with family, their new colleagues and councillors at a graduation ceremony.

Tullia Hellyn, one of the apprentices to be offered a full-time job with Sellafield, said: “The apprentice scheme has provided me with the necessary experience and qualifications to make me into the mechanical design engineer I am today.

“I have had the pleasure of working with some of the most knowledgeable and experienced engineers in the industry.”

Sellafield employs around 2,000 people in the Warrington area and established the apprenticeship scheme at Hinton House in August 2009.

Many Selllafield Ltd engineers and leaders began their career as an apprentice and continue to benefit from the first class foundation it gave them.

Andrew Carr, director at Risley's Hinton House said: “The apprenticeship programme at Sellafield Ltd has made a massive contribution in producing skilled crafts people – more than 5,000 since the programme began.

“Apprenticeships are becoming more valued again and I certainly think they make up a vital part of the Sellafield workforce.”