A £1.5M development to put a college at the forefront of the food industry has been opened.

The Centre for Vocational Excellence in Food Chain Technology, at Askham Bryan College, near York, has support from across the food industry.

It was opened by one of the UK's most respected experts in the field, Sir Donald Curry, chairman of the Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group and author of the Curry Report, following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

The centre provides practical courses for the industry in a range of subjects, from butchery to dairy production and food hygiene to food labelling and microbiology.

The first courses have already begun and are aimed at new entrants and those already working in agriculture, food processing and retailing.

Sir Donald said: "The centre will provide an important training and educational resource, not only for the college, but also for the region and the country as well."

College principal Professor Gareth Rees said: "We can assist the industry by adding value to the skills of the producers, whether in a farm shop or a factory."

The centre has been developed over the past year at the college's Westfield Farm and, with the dairy unit and beef centre, is unique in the region.

Housed in converted farm buildings, it has two processing lines - a meat unit where beef from the college's cattle will be used, and a dairy product line for processing cheese and, in the future, ice cream, butter, yoghurt and flavoured milks.

In the office accommodation, there are lecture and seminar rooms, and an IT training suite which is linked to the robotic milking system for real time demonstrations.