Building construction applications are way below target figures

A major advertising drive aims to persuade school leavers to take up a career or course in construction.

The move comes as figures show up to 430,000 employees are required by 2010 to keep pace with Britain's spiralling building demands.

Applications for vocational degrees and construction courses have risen overall but are way below target.

The industry's leading trade body CITB ConstructionSkills claims the recruitment campaign is essential to meet targets set by the government's �76 billion spending plan to build schools, hospitals, homes, roads and the �10billion Crossrail link.

Building experts fear that the industry could reach breaking point if the 2012 Olympic bid is successful.

They say Britain is already struggling with its domestic construction requirements.

CITB wants employers to support the recruitment drive by offering more starter jobs to school leavers and graduates and to invest in long-term training of their staff to keep skills within the UK industry.