Ex-service personnel are being helped to put their military experience to use with practical jobs.

Plumpton College has teamed up with charity HighGround for initiatives for service leavers, reservists and veterans. A second pilot of the scheme ended last week and was said to be “invaluable”.

College principal Des Lambert said: “The participants so far have been very enthusiastic and hopefully we have we have been able to give an insight into the range of land-based opportunities which the college teaches of.

“The land-based world is a diverse one, with many opportunities in addition to production agriculture.

“Ironically, we are fulfilling one objective which the college was set up for in 1919, which was to train personnel leaving the armed forces for a career in the land based industries.”

A evaluation of the pilot is being carried out by a University of Aberdeen scholar.

Once funding is secure, the programme will be rolled out across the UK in 2015.