APPRENTICES left in the lurch by the closure of a major Southend aircraft maintenance firm have been offered help by a college.

Hundreds of jobs were lost after leading firm, ATC Lasham, at Southend Airport went into administration.

The majority of ex-employees and apprentices live locally and they will not have to travel out of the area to find work or training.

Basildon-based Prospects College of Advanced Technology (PROCAT) pledged its support to students - setting aside £2,000 to help apprentices travel to the Basildon campus.

ATC Lasham’s apprenticeship programme was one of the most successful in the country and earned national acclaim.

Neil Bates,principal and CEO at PROCAT, said: "The long term investment by the management at ATC Lasham in apprenticeships since 2010 is in stark contrast to the sudden closure of the business on Friday.

“We are hopeful a buyer can be found for the business and we can re-establish our training centre at the airport. Our number one priority now is the apprentices who have lost their jobs. We are absolutely determined to find them new jobs where they can continue their apprenticeship and go on to have successful careers in the aviation industry. Our aviation training centre has been temporarily re-located to our Basildon campus with teaching for all aviation students and apprentices resuming on Tuesday, October 6."

It is estimated that 27,000 new aircraft are needed in service by 2031, with aviation businesses already reporting skills gaps and unprecedented demand for 7,000 new engineers over the next five years.

Workers were called into a meeting on Friday morning and told to leave immediately after being made redundant.

Administrators for the firm - headed up by James Cook who recently married model and socialite Poppy Delvigne - say the firm had 383 staff - at Lasham in Hampshire and Southend Airport.

One employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “As you can imagine the feeling is pretty low.”

Another ex-employee added: “Yes there are jobs out there, there are other airports where there are jobs such as Luton and Stansted, but the people would need to travel.

“Most the people who worked at ATC Lasham lived locally and their families were local but they will now have to travel.”

ONE of ATC Lasham’s main clients says it has a “contingency plan” in place.

Easyjet, one of ATC Lasham’s main customers at Southend, said they will have to look elsewhere for a maintenance company.

A spokesman for Easyjet said: “Easyjet is sorry to confirm that it has received notification that its maintenance provider at Southend has gone into administration. easyJet has a contingency plan in place to continue its line maintenance at Southend.”

SOUTHEND council says it will do as much as they can to assist ex-employees, especially those who were on apprenticeships.

Ron Woodley, leader of Southend Council, said:“When any major local employer goes into administration it has an impact on the local economy. When it is a well-respected and large company employing many local people then that impact is felt very keenly within the Borough and I sympathise with anyone who has been made redundant.

“I understand arrangements are being made for apprentices to enable them to complete their apprenticeships and we welcome that.” The council are also making general redundancy information and support available at southend.gov.uk/business for those that need it.

“Staff employed at ATC Lasham will be highly skilled within the aviation and engineering sector and I hope that they can find new jobs as quickly as possible.”

An aircraft mechanic, who worked at the aircraft company for two and a half years, looks back positively on her time at the company.

She added: “I think everyone is still in shock, and gutted as we all worked well together. There were ups and downs like many companies but we all enjoyed our job.

“There were some quality engineers in the company, it’s a shame.”