A KIDLINGTON firm which trains young people to work in the building trade has been saved after going into administration.

The Oxfordshire Co-operative Development Agency hit financial trouble in September.

Now administrators Anthony Harris and Sue Roscoe, of Critchleys Chartered Accountants, have sold the company to Oxfordshire-based Swan Lake Consulting, safeguarding the courses of 300 trainees.

Mr Harris said: "The transaction was long and drawn out with the added complications of disposing of a not-for-profit organisation, but we are delighted with the outcome as this will enable the continuation of training young adults in this key sector."

The firm has been renamed Ace Training and has relaunched its recruitment of new students.

Five jobs were lost as a result of the administration, but managers are confident the future looks bright for the organisation, which is based at the Station Field industrial estate.

Other than OCDA, there is now only one college in the county, Oxford and Cherwell Valley, offering construction training. Abingdon and Witney College closed its course earlier this year.

Part of Ace Training's intake is drawn from four schools, Gosford Hill at Kidlington, Burford Community College, Bicester Community College and The Marlborough School, in Woodstock.

Demand for new homes is currently exceeding supply but the National House Building Council has said that that trend cannot be reversed unless more young people are trained in housebuilding skills.

Last year, 170,000 new UK homes were built, compared with a Government target of 250,000. In Oxfordshire there was a fall in new house starts last year.

The number of new homes which began to go up in the county in the first two quarters of this year totalled 1,085, down from 1,134 last year.