Plumbing has come out as the top most ‘in demand’ job in a survey of the most recession proof job sectors in the UK.

There are currently more than 30,000 unfilled plumbing vacancies in the UK, despite figures showing an average plumber earns between £30,000-35,000 per annum and many earn in excess of £40,000.

According to Train 4 Trade Skills the wider availability of higher education and the failure of poorly paid apprenticeships lured many people away from practical trades, such as plumbing.

In recent years the jobs shortfall has been exacerbated by demand for British plumbers in Australia.

A flood of immigrants filled the skills gap, but now as workers return to their stronger central and eastern European economies, the need for plumbers is greater than it’s ever been.

Mike Head, marketing manager for Train 4 Trade Skills, said: “With a conservative estimate of half a million jobs becoming redundant over the coming year, more and more workers are looking for career switches. Plumbing is well paid, flexible and plumbers are in demand.

“But what makes it so difficult for people to re-train is the need to earn an income.

“Most of us simply can’t return to college or become an apprentice on less than £100 a week, which is why courses such as ours that give flexibility and enable people to study in a variety of ways, from home, are so invaluable in the current economic climate”.

Train 4 Trade Skills courses encompass a unique virtual reality house in which the plumbing students practices his skills, to ensure mistakes, breakages or damage remain in the virtual world, so that once in a workshop situation practical skills are way ahead of those using conventional book-based learning.