A new career is in the pipeline for two teenagers who have won a place in Bradford's first gas mains apprentice scheme in a decade.

Nikki Thornton, 16, and Bradley Metcalf, 17, are among 17 teenagers taken on by United Utilities this month.

After three weeks of health and safety training, the apprentices will join the company's engineering teams across the district.

Both will be based at the firm's operational unit at Thornton Road Industrial Estate, Bradford.

Nikki, of Allerton, will join the company's team of rapid-response emergency engineers. Bradley, of Bramley, will specialise in the vital job of replacing and renewing gas mains.

Nikki, a former pupils of Parkside School, Cullingworth, considered careers in the Army and planning before choosing to join United Utilities.

He said: "I'll be working as an emergency engineer which means I will go out to gas leaks. It should be a good job and hopefully I can work my way up.

"I had been offered a job to train as a plumber but was keen to join United Utilities as soon as they offered me a position."

Engineering operations manager Peter Christie, who is based in Sunderland and joined the industry as an apprentice 28 years ago, said it was at least ten years since Bradford's gas industry had run an apprenticeship programme.

"We are lucky enough to have an extremely competent and able workforce here in the north but the truth is that they are getting older and a proportion of them will start to retire over the next few years.

"We need talented youngsters like Nikki and Bradley to learn the craft of gas main engineering so they can step into their shoes when the time comes.

"It's a great industry for them to join. We have a mains replacement scheme which will last at least 30 years and there are great career prospects. Nearly all our top managers started work as apprentices."

After three years of on-the-job and classroom study the apprentices will get an NVQ level three in gas network engineering.

United Utilities operates Bradford's network of gas mains on behalf of Northern Gas Networks. The network covers the whole of Yorkshire, the North East and north Cumbria.

United Utilities employs about 1,100 staff and also has depots in Leeds, Scarborough, Hull and Heckmondwike. It replaces about 550km of gas mains for Northern Gas Networks every year.