He cut a ribbon then unveiled a plaque to commemorate the event.

The opening marks a serious commitment to an area of the college which has shown substantial growth in recent times.

Over the past few years, the college has diversified into a number of areas. The engineering department now works closely with local schools and skills for work programmes to encourage youngsters into the industry.

At the other end of the spectrum, the college has had considerable success working direct with multinational companies such as Geoservices, Petrofac, PSN, Woodgroup, etc., to develop programmes that specifically meet their needs.

The refurbished facilities are largely open plan, but cater for four different areas including electrical, fabrication and welding, mechanical engineering and Computer Numerical Control (CNC).

Director of learning Kevin Murphy commented: "This is a fantastic resource for the industry's training needs. We feel we've learned a huge amount by listening to the training requirements of engineering companies both large and small and from recent feedback we are delivering top class results."