Alice Copeman of Solenis has won the title of Apprentice of the Year as she trains up as a laboratory technician.

Miss Copeman, who was in Mexico on awards night, was described as "very good at her job" by her supervisor who collected the award.

Miss Copeman was taken on in 2017, when it was named BASF, as a level three advanced laboratory technician apprentice.

She joined straight after her GCSE at the age of 16 having heard about the programme through her father, who works on site.

The apprentice, who has met and exceeded expectations with her NVQ and BTEC requirements, is due to complete by September this year.

Miss Copeman is ahead of other apprentices on the programme and achieving merits or distinctions on all assignments.

Ben Glennon, Miss Copeman's lead supervisor and mentor, said: "She’s very polite, very good at her job, she’s got a great work ethic. Any research development jobs she does the lab work and then we can scale it up.

"Alice came so young - she’s a fresh pair of eyes."

The apprentice mentor put out a message of encouragement to businesses across the district to hire their own apprentices.

When asked if more companies should start their own schemes he replied, "definitely".

Mr Glennon said it can help bring "a new perspective" to the working environment, whether they have experience in the industry or not.

He said: "The experience needs passing onto a younger generation."

The award, sponsored by City Training Services, was created to celebrate local success stories and to let companies shout up about their best apprentices who have come through their programmes.

Judges also looked at the company’s apprenticeship programme as a whole, including how many apprentices are trained in a year and how many take up permanent positions afterwards.

Patrick Butlin was runner up in the category after joining BTL’s IT team in Shipley straight from college in 2017.

James Poole, another Solenis finalist, was taken on in 2017 as an advanced level three science manufacturing technician apprentice.