A former model who trained as a gas engineer is urging schoolgirls to follow her lead.

Naomi Hills, pictured, says she is fed up of being the only woman among 40 men at her workplace. "There's not much you can talk about to a middle-aged bloke - they just moan about their wives," she said.

Naomi, who lives in Bradford but works for Leeds Council, spoke to girls taking part in a taster course at Bradford College.

Naomi, who used to model fashions on TV, explained to girls from four Bradford high schools how she turned her back on the modelling world and decided to go with her first love - the building trade.

"When I was 13 my Dad started building a house and I used to help him - mixing concrete, digging, anything," she said. "After that I knew I wanted to do something in the building trade."

After school, she did NVQs in plumbing at college, but switched to gas work because "it was cleaner - no toilets".

She said: "I like the job but I feel a bit lonely. I hope this leads to more women coming into these jobs."

Organiser of the day, Annette Williams, is a motor mechanic by trade and co-ordinates the Let's Twist (Train Women in Science and Technology) scheme, based at Bradford College.

She says a skills shortage in the construction industry means there has never been a better time for women to break in to the traditionally male trades of plumbing, electrical work, and carpentry.

"The industry recognises that in order to fulfil labour shortages, it has to look at other sources of labour - ethnic minorities and women," she said. "The aim of this is to give girls an informed choice."

Women entering the building trade could still find it uncomfortable, so the Let's Twist scheme runs a mentoring programme to match school leavers with women who have already started university courses or are gaining ground in their chosen profession.

But things had improved in the last 20 years, Ms Williams said. "Twenty years ago, if a women was on a building site people thought there was something wrong with her - that she wanted to be a man," she said. "At least today, it's generally recognised women have a right to be there and there are more women in professional roles - architects and quantity surveyors."

Pupil Catherine Wellham, 13, from Rhodesway School, said she had enjoyed the course, which included a practical hands-on session with electronics.

"There shouldn't be a problem because men and women are equal," she said.

"I want to be an electrician, from what I have done today."

Bradford College also runs women-only taster courses for adults, thanks to cash from the European Social Fund. Courses cover building crafts and an introduction to computing.