British Energy, which owns and operates two nuclear power stations in Lancashire, has signed a £10 million training and skills contract with Flagship Training to deliver its apprentice programme.

The agreement comes into force in September and will see Flagship provide residential courses for budding British Energy engineers.

Training will take place at Flagship's academy in Hampshire and will focus on technical engineering safety standards and other skills, reports Training Zone.

David Barber, British Energy's head of technical training, said that "world-class safety standards, our values and our expectations are built into the programme".

He added: "We are developing mature and capable employees who will come back to our power stations to make a major contribution both in the stations we operate today."

There is also the possibility that technicians trained by Flagship will be required to work in new nuclear power stations if the government presses ahead with a new fleet of power plants.

The training agreement is expected to last seven years.

British Energy's Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 power stations are located on the Lancashire coast near Morecambe. Between them, the power plants are capable of producing electricity for six cities the size of Liverpool during peak hours.