More than 450 trainee engineers will be hired across the South West – including more than 50 across Wiltshire - as part of the largest recruitment drive ever undertaken by Openreach.

The announcement follows news that Openreach, Britain’s leading digital network business, will accelerate plans to build more ultrafast Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband across the country.

The 455 new South West roles, part of 3,500 available across the UK during the next 12 months, will be located in dozens of communities across the county including Swindon, Salisbury and Devizes.

Trainees will join the UK’s largest team of telecoms engineers working to expand, upgrade, maintain and install new services over Openreach’s national broadband network.

Twelve new fibre engineering schools are being established in the UK, including one in Swindon. Openreach expects to invest about £100,000 over the next 12 months equipping the Swindon centre with the latest fibre engineering training facilities.

Emma Howarth, programme director in the South West for Openreach, said: “This latest recruitment represents a further major investment in the South West. It’s very exciting news for our region. We’re looking forward to men and women from all walks of life applying for these roles at Openreach as we’re keen to engage with the aspiring engineers of tomorrow and to build a diverse workforce that reflects the hugely diverse communities we serve.

“Becoming an engineer can be an incredibly rewarding career, and we’re constantly improving our training and recruitment programmes to make sure we attract and keep the best engineers in the business. This year we’ve invested heavily in upskilling our people, so they can now do more for customers in a single visit."