TV show CSI to blame for construction skills shortages

Major building programmes like the Olympics risk delay because British students are pursuing "trendy" courses inspired by TV dramas and neglecting skilled science and engineering courses, an education think tank has warned.

The Daily Telegraph reported that increasing numbers of students were taking courses in subjects such as forensic science, inspired by shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

As a result, some 40,000 specialist engineering jobs were being left unfilled, the Professor Sa'ad Medhat, chief executive of the New Engineering Foundation warned.

Professor Medhat said: "Companies are already leaving the UK due to the shortage of skilled technicians with further educational training. These are the people that keep the railways running, fit instruments to aeroplanes, create digital broadband or install gas pipelines."