STUDENTS studying motor vehicles at Warrington Collegiate can now add work experience in rural Spain to their CV.

After securing funding from Erasmus, 14 students and four tutors spent two weeks this month repairing and maintaining vehicles on Spanish roads from cars to tractors to cement mixers in garages around Martos in south central Spain.

And the language barrier was not an issue, thanks to daily Spanish lessons during the trip.

Stephen Joyce, lecturer in motor vehicle at the college, who accompanied the students said: “International work placements give students the opportunity to learn about new cultures, customs and local business practices first hand.

"Top quality work experience enables students to build useful skills that cannot be taught in the classroom as well as equipping them with a range of valuable employability skills such as team working, communication skills and commercial awareness.”

The packed schedule included a trip up the Martos Mountains and the Alhambra in Granada as well as taking on new challenges in the workshops such as stripping and cleaning the engine of a classic 600d Seat, which were manufactured in Spain from 1957 to 1973.

Student Kieran Armstrong, aged 17 and from Great Sankey, said: “After this international experience I now plan to spend some time working abroad.

"I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of working in a different country, learning new techniques and developing the my skills on the wide variety of cars and other vehicles on the Spanish roads, including a tractor.”