Students at a skills centre will benefit from major refurbishment at its “life expired” building after plans to move to a new site fell through.

The Feltham Skills Centre, in De Brome Road, had been due to move to the High Street in a £20m project, before the Government announced earlier this year it would not provide the funding.

West Thames College has since been working with Hounslow Council to secure the long term future of the run down centre, and hopes to keep it open until 2012.

Marjorie Semple, principal of West Thames College, said: “Whilst we are still based at the De Brome site, the college will continue to provide the best facilities possible for our students.

“This year, applications for courses at the Feltham Skills Centre have been at an all time high - with many greatly over subscribed.

“This increase underlines the importance of the skills centre to the future of Feltham’s young people and the part it plays in the provision of education for 14 to 19-year-olds in Hounslow.”

A refurbishment programme over the summer saw an upgrade to the centre’s electricity supply and boiler system, a redecorated main entrance and reception and a new enrolment office.

Students will also enjoy a new scooter park, an equipment upgrade in the carpentry workshop and a new roof over outdoor brickwork.

The proposed move to the High Street, replacing the delapidated former People’s Centre, had been seen as vital for ensuring better job prospects in an area with a high rate of unemployment, but the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) announced in June it would not back the project.

The centre provides training in construction, catering, engineering and hairdressing to hundreds of teenagers a year, but has been in desperate need of major repairs.

Electricity and heating failures have forced it to close down several times, including in the first week of term in January.

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