The head of manufacturing at the Airbus factory in Flintshire has said that more work is needed to encourage young people to take up a career in engineering.

Martin Evans — a former Airbus apprentice — was speaking at Teen Tech in Wrexham, an event organised by TV’s Maggie Philbin to showcase the industry to school pupils before they decide which GCSE subjects to study.

Ms Philbin said: “Girls eliminate themselves from engineering careers at an early age because they wrongly think it means being knee-deep in axle grease all day.

“This sort of event is an igniting spark; it lifts the lid on the industries and careers behind devices like lap-tops and mobile phones.”

According to the former Tomorrow’s World presenter, research from three previous Teen Tech events that she organised showed that 77% of pupils said they were interested in science and engineering after speaking with industry experts, compared with 53% at the beginning of the day.