A VINTAGE clothing shop set up to train young people for a career in retail will be opening in a vacant city centre unit later this month.

Forster Community College is preparing the empty unit, in Ivegate, for an opening at the end of the month, and it will be used to provide real life experience for hundreds of students on its retail courses.

The shop will be named Vintage Rebel, and help students gain experience in customer service as well as other skills needed for the retail industry.

The college is a social enterprise providing vocational education, and runs a number of retail, hospitality and catering courses. It is hoped the venture will prove as popular as the college's other city centre presence. Forster's Bistro in City Park helps give the college's catering students experience in a working kitchen, and the restaurant has become a popular eaterie in itself.

Among the courses available at the college, based on Captain Street in the city centre, are qualifications in customer service, retail management and retail knowledge. Students on these courses will be working alongside professionals when the store opens.

The college has run a charity shop in the city centre before, based at Arndale House. But with the plans to re-brand that building as The Xchange, which include new shops and restaurants, that store closed earlier this year.

The new shop will also increase footfall in Ivegate, a street that contains several empty units, despite its central location, and college staff hope it will benefit from the increasing popularity of vintage clothing.

The unit is a former Shelter charity shop, and is located next to a nail salon.

Sara Belhay, marketing officer at the College, said: "We had a store in the past, but this shop will be focused more on vintage clothing and accessories for women, men and children.

"There will be hundreds of students that will benefit from this, most of the students will be placed in the shop at some point of their course.

"It will be great for the city and the local community, especially with the Westfield shopping centre opening soon, and there will be a lot of other retail developments. It will be very useful for people to have this training.

"We have some stock, but we still need more. We'd like to ask for the community to donate any good quality clothing or accessories."

Anyone wanting to donate can contact the college on 01274 308707 or drop off items at the college.

The shop will open on July 30.