PRINCE Andrew urged the county’s children to get into engineering as he witnessed one of the most powerful lasers in the world in action.

At Harwell Campus, near Didcot, the Duke of York met apprentices who develop Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation devices.

The Queen’s second son also met some of the 1,500 school-age science fans who visited the laboratory complex on Wednesday.

He used his visit to promote Harwell’s landmark open day tomorrow – its first in more than a decade – that more than 10,000 people are expected to attend.

Speaking to an assembled audience, he said: “There are scientists doing all sorts of wonderful things, but they couldn’t do them without the engineers to make it happen.

“What I’m interested in is trying to encourage that coincidence of activity where young people are inspired to think not only of science but also of engineering as tools with which they can actually do something constructive.

“Science and engineering requires flexibility, it requires outside-the-box thinking, and that is something this organisation tries to nurture and find.”

The duke is patron of Harwell Campus, but also patron of the International Year of Light, a celebration of the science of light and lasers.

He had a guided tour of Harwell’s Incredible Power of Light exhibition, which highlights the campus’s Vulcan, one of the most powerful lasers in the world.

Harwell is home to 150 organisations, including the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, the European Space Agency, Diamond Light Source and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The council’s director of national laboratories, Dr Andrew Taylor, said: “Our open days are a great opportunity to inspire young people who may not even have considered a career in science and engineering.

“The cutting-edge research we do here at Harwell depends on the skills of the outstanding engineers and technicians, who build, maintain and operate our unique facilities.

“There is a great opportunity for young people to join us and be trained through our apprenticeship scheme in electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering.”

On show at tomorrow’s open day, from 9.30am-5.30pm, will be exploding mini volcanoes, dinosaur skeletons and Lego models of scientific instruments.