Ashford College has unveiled a £10m engineering suite- which includes robots that students can programme to pick up a car.

The building, which boasts “world leading facilities”, has been hailed by Ashford MP Damian Green as a great symbol of the ambition in the town.

The extension is the latest positive step for the further education institution, which entered administration in 2019 while owned by the Hadlow Group, and then taken on by The East Kent College Group in 2020.

The new build was opened on Thursday after a year of work, and is part of the campus’ phase 2 project, with the aim to house additional facilities for information technology, engineering and business courses.

Industry-standard equipment, workshops, classrooms, and three robots which the students can programme to pick up huge items, can be found at the site.

Speaking at the unveiling event, EKC Chief Executive Officer Graham Razey said it was a “wonderful day” for the college and the town.

He said: “Ashford deserves to have this world-leading kit and students are thrilled about it.

“I started my career here in the early nineties and it was a very different place then.

“Ashford College joined the EKC Group in the pandemic and my first job was to actually close the doors and tell everybody they had to go home. To see it here today, with the number of students here having doubled in a three-year period, it’s amazing.

“My job now is to say what’s next. We’re really looking forward to future growth.”

MP Damian Green, who cut the ribbon at the event, said the extension was desperately needed for the growth and success of Ashford to be maintained.

“It’s already got a lot of very modern top-of-the-range kit and hopefully, it will produce very modern, top-of-the-range workers,” he said.

“Local businesses will be able to find, on their doorstep, people they want to employ.”

He added the appearance of the college is important since it is the first thing visitors exiting Ashford International are greeted with.

“It used to be a very desolate piece of land with mobiles on it, and it has been utterly transformed.

“The extension fits in very well and people have commented that it looks like it has always been here.

“It’s a good, attractive building which enhances the image of the town.”

The MP played a role in making the extension happen, by persuading ministers to help fund the project.

He said: “All big projects like this are difficult and complex.

“You need so many people pulling in the same direction and it was my job to get money and support from central government.”

The site was granted a financial injection through the Post-16 Capacity Fund in 2021.