WORK on Crewe’s University Technical College, which will equip school leavers to join Britain’s next generation of engineers and technicians, is set to begin in January.

Crewe Engineering and Design UTC will train 800 students aged 14 to 19 who want to pursue careers in industries like automotive, rail and advanced manufacturing.

It will be built on the site of Victoria Community Centre’s Oakley Building, on West Street, which will be vacated in December. The majority of services currently provided there will move to the new Crewe Lifestyle Centre in Lyon Street when it opens in April 2016.

Community groups which use the Oakley Building have received letters explaining how they will be helped to find temporary accommodation.

Cheshire East Council’s adult social care day services at the site will also be relocated until April, when they will move to the Lifestyle Centre. There will be no disruption to services for clients.

The Oakley Building has to be vacated in December as a condition of the UTC’s £11m grant from the Department for Education, which is a vital element in the project’s funding.

The UTC, due to open in September 2016, is a partnership between Cheshire East Council, Bentley Motors, Manchester Metropolitan University, Siemens, Bosch, OSL Rail, Jacobs Engineering, Chevron Racing, Optical 3D and South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.

Cllr Michael Jones, leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “The University Technical College and the Lifestyle Centre are huge investments which will transform Crewe, creating a new generation of skilled people and helping all residents to live healthier for longer.

“We will be making every effort to help community groups who currently use the Oakley Building find temporary, alternative accommodation in the interval before the Lifestyle Centre opens.”