Sparks fly in Midlands at the Great British Weld-Off

Morris Site Machinery based in Four Ashes played host again for the second annual event which sees 16 bright sparks show off their skills.

The city was represented by apprentices from UTC Aerospace on Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, with Nick Martin mentoring Chris Burns, 24, Josh Hickman, 22, Max Freeman, 21 and Dominic Pearce 21.

They took on teams from Coleg Cambria, Neath Port Talbot College and a foursome from Chesterfield College

The all-day contest which took place on Wednesday began with a written exam and a welding test before the main five-hour challenge which involved each team re-creating an iconic British landmark.

And while the visiting competitors were busy with models of the Angel of the North, Crooked Spire and London Eye, the Wolverhampton lads chose something a little less obvious – traffic lights.

Nick said although they were not the most 'scenic view' they did have local historic significance as the seemingly innocuous set of lights at Princes Square were the first set of automated traffic lights in Britain when they were installed in 1927.

An earlier attempt at a working traffic signal was put up outside the Houses of Parliament in 1968 however that experiment was abandoned when the gas lamp exploded injuring a policeman operating it.

The new technology pioneered in the heart of city some 30 years later proved a success and the lights are now an all-too familiar site for motorists around the country. But despite the UTC team thinking outside of the signal box to pay homage they only managed to replicate their runners-up placing of last year. Coleg Cambria won overall scooping the prize of £2,000 for their welding department and £250 for each team member who also gained membership to the Welding Institute for a year. But the Wolverhampton lads made a significant improvement on last year when they did not finish one of the challenges.

Nick said: "It is quite an intense day and the lads have done pretty well this year. We are all from the factory and have full-time jobs so we haven't had much time to prepare. We haven't completed everything we wanted to do but we have got at least 90 per cent of it done so we are very happy with what we have achieved. The lads have enjoyed themselves again."

Team member Max added: "The hardest thing is managing your time properly. I was a member of the team last year and I think we have done better this time around." Head judge Ian Hogarth said: "It is not just about welding. The teams are doing all sorts of techniques such as rolling, drilling and pressing. The welding is putting together all the bits that have been made."

He added: "We are looking out for originality, what it looks like and how it has been presented. We are also judging the quality of work."