Students at St John’s School in Marlborough can now hone their basic mechanical skills thanks to the generosity of three local car dealerships.

The managers of the town’s three car salesrooms, Clarke and Rodway, Elm Tree Motors and Skurray’s, have each donated a car for students to use to learn car maintenance and valeting skills.

Although the cars are all older part-exchange vehicles, they are perfect for students to learn the basics of keeping a vehicle in good order. And, to help them along, a supply of valeting products has been donated by multi-national company Auto Glym, through local supplier Philip Marsh.

The car maintenance challenge is part of the school’s Access course, which has been introduced into the St John’s curriculum as part of its drive to meet the needs of all its students.

The course has been approved by national awarding bodies including QCA and SQA and is seen as a step away from the traditional exam-based GCSE.

Fifteen students are involved in the Access course, taking part in a range of activities including building, decorating, hair and beauty, leisure, car maintenance and sustainable gardening.

Tutor Charlie Paul said: “We hope that the course will continue to develop throughout the next few years, drawing on more experiences and trades in the community.

“What we need now is to meet some local people who are able to volunteer a few hours of their time to work with students on this practically based course, and we also need more materials.

“What would really help us is if someone could help us construct a hard-standing area where we can carry out the car valeting.”Anyone who can help is asked to call (01672) 516156.