PUPILS were given a first hand insight into the electric vehicles, manufactured in the North-East that will play a part in their daily lives.

An expert in the field visited the Year Five pupils at Mowden Junior School in Darlington to tell them about the role cars such as the Nissan Leaf will play in future transport.

The 65 pupils involved also got to see the vehicle in action for themselves as well as taking part in practical activities which saw them create electricity from soil, fruit, water and vegetables.

The session was delivered by Gateshead College which has the contract to deliver electric vehicle training for Nissan employees at the firm’s Sunderland plant.

Production of the all electric Leaf is due to begin at the Sunderland plant within weeks.

The company is spending £420m on plant and machinery to make up to 50,000 Leaf cars a year in Sunderland, employing 560 workers.

The Mowden School event comes as Foundation for Jobs the private/public sector campaign to tackle youth unemployment, led by The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership, aims to encourage more young people to consider careers in engineering.

The sector is expected to offer tens of thousands of jobs in the North-East over the coming decade.

Paul Fraser of Gateshead College, who delivered the session at the school, said it was important to the college to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing) subjects to young people.

He said: “It gives young students an insight into the advances of modern technology.

“Gateshead College is at the forefront of Electric Vehicle training and has major links with worldwide manufacturers Nissan Motors to name but one.

“Our industry partners recognise a shortage in manufacturing and general engineering.

“The children’s awareness and knowledge needs to be developed so they can make more a more informed choice during their future option years.

“They are the potential engineers of the future and ultimately they have the future developments in their hands.”

It emerged in January that Gateshead College is to create an International Centre for Low Carbon Vehicle Development after acquiring Barmston Court, a 2,000sq m facility in Sunderland, originally built as the Nissan Design Centre, in 1991.

The college is aiming to build on the success of its neighbouring Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation (SASMI), which opened last year.