A trainee will take a big step down on her first day in a new job.

Davinder Pabial, 26, has been snapped up for a top museum job.

But instead of getting her feet under the desk next Monday, she will be going 450 feet underground.

Davinder, who lives in West Bowling, Bradford, has been appointed marketing manager for the National Coal Mining Museum based at the old Caphouse Colliery near Wakefield. Her job will mean "selling" the museum at local, regional and national level.

But she is determined that one of her first tasks is to go underground to see what the visitors will experience.

She said: "It's a long way underground, but it doesn't bother me in the least.

"In the Victorian times women and children worked underground until an Act was brought in to stop it. The museum shows exactly what they experienced in those times and I want to get the feel of it. It's very exciting."

Davinder is one of 80 trainees from ethnic minority backgrounds taking part in a Positive Action Training Scheme with Bradford Council.

She has undergone an intensive training course and completed the Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification.

She has spent the last two years on the training scheme gaining experience in marketing, conference and tourism promotions and media skills.

Davinder, who attended Tong Upper School, went to Huddersfield University and obtained a Business Administration degree. She also spent two years at the University of Salford, gaining a Higher National Diploma in Business and Finance.

She said: "I think this is going to be a really big challenge and a big step forward. The museum gained national recognition in 1995, and the aim is to build on this. It is a wonderful museum and a major part of history."

Councillor Val McMath, the Council's lead member for equal rights, said: "This is great news and represents a major success for the training scheme."

Davinder joins the museum as it waits for the result of a bid for £5 million Lottery funding. A museum spokesman said she had beaten six other applicants to the important post and would be handling a budget of £100,000.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.