PRINCE Charles celebrated his 54th birthday yesterday with a visit to the region.

He joined thousands of young people at Salford Quays for SkillCity, one of the biggest skills fairs in the world.

The Prince's Trust is one of the organisers of the massive exhibition which put on show training opportunities with the aim of getting young people involved in crafts and skilled work.

It follows a recent survey which found that young people would rather become accountants than train for traditional trades, such as bricklaying or plumbing.

After his tour, the Prince said SkillCity would give more than 80,000 visitors the chance to sample100 skills. He said: "The experience will, I am sure, give them a vivid idea of what is involved in taking up a vocational skills career and convince many young people that it is the right choice for them."

He said there was a shortage of trained people in a wide range of jobs. One in 12 employers had difficulty recruiting staff because they could not find people with the right skills, he said.

"Nearly a million people in the UK are looking for work and yet at the same time there are also over a million job vacancies which have not been filled, mainly because of the skills shortage."

SkillCity continues until Saturday.