1,000 a week want to tap into a plumbing career

More than 1,000 people a week are trying to tap into a new career in plumbing.

Building Trade Skills Centres said the number of people wanting to train as plumbers had gone up in recent months as the housebuilding industry slumped.

Four out of five people polled by the centres said they expected to change careers before they retire.

The centre’s managing director Allen Jackson told the Scotsman people were picking plumbing because “no matter how much technology affects other industries, we will always need skilled plumbers”.

The group estimates 4,500 new plumbers are needed in the UK each year to 2012.