AN energy company is planning to recruit 27 apprentices to head off an impending skills shortage.

United Utilities Operations, which took control of the region's gas distribution network last month, will take on gas mains trainees at its depots in Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Spennymoor, in County Durham, Carlisle, in Cumbria and in Leeds.

The move comes after research predicted there would be a shortage of 3,000 trained gas mains engineers nationwide by 2007. Also, thirty per cent of engineers are due to retire within the next ten years.

Jane Branscombe, of Energy and Utility Skills - the skills council for electricity, gas, waste management and water - said there was a gap in the workforce, with many skilled labourers over the age of 45.

She said: "What we are coming up against is the effect of the birth rate going down and a shift in educational emphasis, with more young people going to university instead of into apprenticeship schemes."

More than 150 youngsters from across the North-East applied for the apprenticeships.

Half made it through stage one and will now undergo a series of aptitude tests, interviews and manual dexterity assessments. It has been more than ten years since the region's gas industry ran an apprenticeship programme.

United Utilities' engineering operations manager Peter Christie, who joined the industry as an apprentice 27 years ago, said: "We need to make sure we have new talent coming through the ranks to cope with our increasing workload."

The apprentices will be recruited into a number of engineering disciplines and will undergo block release training at local colleges from September.