THE UK’s oldest working mine is looking to secure its future by taking on a new batch off apprentices.

Compass Minerals, which operates Winsford Salt Mine, has been running its apprenticeship scheme for the past four years.

The scheme currently has several apprentices who are about to progress into fully fledged mechanical and electrical engineers, paving the way for the next batch of young hopefuls.

The lucky four are Joshua Allen, 19, from Winsford, Daniel Jones, 22, from Winsford, Daniel Worthington, 18, from Middlewich and Jay Whinnett, 17, also from Middlewich.

One prominent Winsford figure who forged a successful career at the Winsford Salt Mine is Brian Clarke, councillor for Cheshire West and Chester Council and Winsford Town Council.

Cllr Clarke, who worked at the mines over three separate stints for a combined 37 years, said: “The Salt mine knew some time ago that their workforce was ageing and needed some new blood.

“And rather than go looking further afield, as the mine is a bit specialised in certain areas, they decided to recruit and grow their own in house.

“To do this they actually advertised in the local papers and this was where the successful apprentices saw the opportunities and applied.”

The first batch of apprentices, were Josh Foster, Tom Maddock, Josh Gerrard and Ben Fitzpatrick, are about to progress into fully fledged Mechanical and electrical engineers.

Cllr Clarke added: “Listening to them speaking about their training and experiences, working on some of the equipment that they will eventually maintain or repair, was refreshing.

“When you have a breakdown the shift engineer is vitally important in maintaining safety and productivity on your shift.

“Some of the apprentices have actually been to America to see the new continuous miner being built and worked on the systems diagnostics and when it arrived at the mine they were actively involved in building it up to its entry into the production system.

The quality of the apprentices was really high and it just goes to show that we have the talented youth in our areas.

“We just have to take a page out of Compass Minerals’ book and develop the raw talent that is already there instead of looking further afield for ready-made talent.”