A NEW building has officially opened at Bridgwater and Taunton College.

The brand-new Construction & Civil Engineering and Motorsport facilities opened on Monday October 9.

It's been over two years since the original buildings were destroyed in a deliberately started fire.

On February 18 2021, a huge fire broke out and completely decimated the BTC building, which was also home to the college’s plumbing and electrical teaching facilities, and staff rooms.

Over 15 fire crews from across Somerset worked to control the blaze, which included former BTC student Owen Cheffey.

Owen completed his studies in 2018, and returned once again to the college this Monday to officially open the new replacement building.

It will serve as "a purpose-built training facility designed to meet the increasing local and regional skills demand in the construction industries", according to Bridgwater and Taunton College.

To find out more about construction at the college, visit the BTC website, call 01278 655004, or email CSIC@btc.ac.uk.

The building also contains new plumbing and electrical workshops, brand new IT suites, and innovative equipment including gas training facilities, as well as air source heat pump technology.

Both Hartnell Taylor Cook Project Management and CTS Construction worked to construct the new site which will offer essential training for BTC students.

It will support a range of qualifications which include Traineeships, Apprenticeships, City & Guilds qualifications, and full-time vocational courses.