THOUSANDS of young people crowded in to the Mini Plant yesterday to hear from some of the county’s top employers.

The ninth annual Careers Fest saw 60 companies set up stands, offering a variety of different career options for some of the 2,000 school children expected to attend.

The event – hosted by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership's Skills team – continues today with 22 secondary schools scheduled to visit over the course of the two days.

Employers hoping to inspire the teenagers include the BMW Group, the UK Atomic Energy Agency, Microsoft, Sophos, Nielsen and Thames Valley Police.

Stalls featured robots, Army rifles and the shell of a Mini car, whilst the pupils were given the chance to try their hand at scientific experiments.

Nigel Tipple, the chief executive of OxLEP, said: “Careers Fest has an excellent record of inspiring young people and helping them to understand the opportunities they have available to them.”