Children as young as nine got to grips with 3-D printing, coding and smart electronics at the end of last month, when a special engineering club took place in Bridgnorth.

The Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology (MCMT) (www.mcmt.co.uk) teamed up with Black Country Atelier (BCA) to offer a week of activities that included designing and making a programmable Tamagotchi-style pet, constructing the widest bridges and tallest sky-scrapers, and creating the best rocket car.

Fifteen youngsters were asked by MCMT staff/apprentices and instructors from BCA to come up with ideas, work with hand tools and use some of the technology installed at the 36,000ft² facility.

Matthew Snelson, MCMT managing director, said: “The skills gap has been well documented, and a lot of time has been spent engaging secondary-school pupils who are considering what to do next after their GCSEs.

"However, what we have been missing is talking to children aged between nine and 13.

"This is a key time before pupils make their subject choices, so we wanted to put on an exciting and challenging week that introduced them to the world of engineering and manufacturing.”

The Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology is based at two training centres — in Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth — and has ‘state of the art’ equipment, including dedicated fabrication, foundry, lathe, metrology, milling, robotics and vehicle trimming sections.

There is also a CNC zone that is full of three-axis and five-axis machine tools donated by the Engineering Technology Group.