COMEDIAN and artist Vic Reeves recalled his apprentice days when he spent the day in his native North-East yesterday.

The entertainer, best known for his TV partnership with Bob Mortimer on shows Vic Reeves' Big Night Out and Shooting Stars, grew up in Darlington and trained as an engineer before he found fame.

He served a mechanical engineering apprenticeship with South West Durham Training, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and was later an inspector in an aircraft parts factory in London.

Yesterday, while in the region to promote the Learning and Skills Council's Apprenticeship Week, he met his former instructor, David Allison, at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon, in County Durham.

The comic said: "He does not look much different. I expected him to be an old man.

"When I knew him 33 years ago, I was straight out from school and he was in charge.

"He was the nicest one there, so it was good to catch up."

Mr Allison said: "He was a good student, went through the training centre no problem.

"He always had a funny sense of humour. We insist on good discipline, but characters help you to enjoy what you are doing."

The comic, real name Jim Moir, believes engineering would have been a good career had he not changed direction and attended art college.

He said: "I like making things, so enjoyed the apprenticeship, earning and learning at the same time, but decided I wanted to do something different."

He said his time as an apprentice and working in a factory helped shape his sense of humour.

He said: "You learn a lot from being with other people and talking to them. I think I still draw on those times and also the skills I learnt for my art."

Reeves met engineering apprentices Callum Howe, Chris Watson and Craig Alderson in the museum's conservation workshop.

Earlier in the day, he had a close shave at gents salon Rude Grooming, in Middlesbrough, where he found out about less traditional apprenticeships available.

He said: "Apprenticeships are even more relevant now than they were in my day because the need to invest in training is vitally important."

Helen Radcliffe, of the Learning and Skills Council, echoed those sentiments.

She said: "Apprenticeships are a way of learning skills, earning money and gaining a qualification at the same time.

"A company can train staff, for free if aged 16 to 18, to do a job their way, and it encourages loyalty.

"In the North-East there is a real shortage of apprenticeships in at least 80 sectors, including traditional industries which face a skills gap because they have an ageing population."