ONE of the county's biggest colleges came top of the class at a county-wide apprenticeship awards ceremony.

Abingdon and Witney College and its students scooped three trophies at the inaugural 2017 Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards on Wednesday night.

At the ceremony at the Marlborough Enterprise Centre in Woodstock the college, which runs courses for thousands of people in the county, took home the Training Provider Award.

There was also success for Sasha Fraser, a horticulture apprentice at the college, who won the Intermediate Apprentice of the Year category for her work at Oxford City Council.

Fellow apprentice Gemma Tuckey won the Special Recognition Award for overcoming significant challenges to learning or work.

College principal Di Batchelor said she was delighted.

She said: "It was a very good night for the College, and I felt very proud to be its principal. "Congratulations to all of those involved with our apprenticeship delivery, and to the fabulous apprentices, in winning these prestigious awards.

"The fact that we are regarded as the top training provider in the county, and that so many of our apprentices were nominated for awards, is a testament to everyone’s hard work and determination to achieve success."

The awards took place during the 10th National Apprentice Week as part of a range of events organised by Oxfordshire Apprenticeships, part of Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Mel Ringer from Oxfordshire Apprentices said: "These new awards enabled Oxfordshire Apprenticeships to celebrate the achievements of the county’s apprentices and recognise the huge contribution they make to our local economy across a wide number of organisations and sectors."

There was further success for Abingdon and Witney College in the Special Recognition category as both of the runners-up were college apprentices.

Alex Free and Ian Rigsby both work in the Yellow Submarine cafe in Witney.

The learning disability charity has a long relationship with the college, with the Yellow Submarine catering team responsible for putting on a spread for those attending the ceremony.

A final victory came when Lorraine Ball was highly commended in the Higher Apprentice of the Year category for her role as operations manager at Home Instead Senior Care.

Ms Batcherlor said: "As it said in the event guide, 'nothing says excellence like an industry award.'"

For a full list of winners see tomorrow's Oxford Mail.