Ford of Britain's Southampton plant is offering GCSE pupils hands-on experience of building Transits with a production line simulator.

The equipment was installed at the site's Ford Partnership Centre, in Wide Lane, with the help of the plant’s apprentices. Now the simulator, donated by automotive training providers ASSA Training and Learning, is set to become a GCSE educational tool for schools.

John Powell, training manager at Southampton Plant, says: "The simulator comes complete with model parts, rather like a Meccano kit, so pupils work together to build a vehicle. It's portable, but takes some effort to move at over 40 metres long."