The Duke of Edinburgh has visited a flagship construction skills centre to express his support for practical training in the industry.

Prince Philip visited the Constructionarium training centre on the National Construction College site in Bircham Newton in Norfolk. The prince requested the visit, revealed in Building earlier this year, in his capacity as senior fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

He watched students from Imperial College, London build scaled-down models of projects including the Millau Viaduct in southern France at the purpose-built centre.

The centre was founded by Imperial College, Expedition Engineering and John Doyle Construction. It is landscaped with features including lakes and mountains to give students experience of working in difficult conditions.