THE first apprentices to graduate from Bovington in more than a decade have received their deeds.

Nine apprentices graduated from the Defence Support Group's (DSG) Bovington site in the ceremony at the RNLI Lifeboat College in Poole.

And it was a double celebration for Mark Davis, who won the overall Apprentice of the Year Award, and became the third generation of his family to enter the fold at Bovington.

DSG chief executive Archie Hughes praised the graduates, their families and all those involved in the apprenticeships at the Bovington armoured vehicle repair centre.

He said: "The DSG apprenticeship scheme is an integral part of our business.

"It is from this pool of talent that the future leaders of our business will emerge and we place great store in the training and experience delivered both in the classroom and on the shop floor."

The apprentices graduating at the end of the three-year courses were Mark Davis, Daniel Bennett from Wareham, Shaun Gardner from Poole, Daniel Hurlstone from Dorchester, Dean Kinson from Weymouth, Michael Russell from Weymouth, Stuart Richardson from Stratton, Scott Smart from Ferndown and Dean Toft from Wareham.

Apprentice of the year Mark, who is from Bovington, joined DSG in 2000 at the age of 16 and began working as a storekeeper before moving on to the main shopfloor as a craft auxiliary.

He began his apprenticeship in 2004, the year in which DSG re-instated the apprenticeship scheme.

Mark's father Ken received his apprentice training at Bovington and works as a team leader at Lulworth.

And the family tradition goes back even further with Mark's grandfather, Roy Davis, who also worked at Lulworth as well as at Bovington until his retirement in 1997.

It is more than 10 years since the last apprenticeship scheme at DSG Bovington.

DSG chief operating officer John Reilly praised the hard work of the apprentices in achieving their deeds at the evening.

He also congratulated the DSG training team and partnership-training provider, Paragon, for its commitment to the scheme.

Regional officer Colin Rose represented the Unite Trade Union. He presented the union's special award for most improved apprentice to Jamie Huet from Bovington, who is in the second year of his apprenticeship.

Other award winners during the night were first year apprentices Peter Waite from Poole and Ryan Gibson from Bovington, second year students Dan O'Donovan from Portland, Jeffrey Warr from Blandford and Keith Avant from Weymouth and third year graduating apprentices Mark Davis from Bovington and Daniel Bennett from Wareham.

DSG launched on April 1 of this year from the merger of the ABRO and DARA businesses into a single new defence trading fund.

DSG provides maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade services for land and air-based platforms and equipment for the UK armed forces.