Willow, the dog from the paint advertising campaigns, ate a ribbon of sausages to officially open the Dulux Academy at Lincoln College.

Local businesses from the painting and decorating industry attended the launch, which is part of a national drive by Dulux to upskill 10,000 professionals by 2020 across the country.

The facility at Lincoln College will be transformed each year with the Dulux colour of the pear, painted by students to help achieve their gold standard work experience.

Tmasyn Lawton, Director of Education and Training Delivery at Lincoln College said: “Sponsoring this facility means we can facilitate industry led courses for those in the trade, continue to build strong employer links and champion our painting and decorating courses by investing in student and staff development.”

Mark Rigby, Skill Development Consultant for the Dulux Academy said: “Getting to this point has taken ‘dog-ed perseverance’ and we are thrilled to be launching this facility here today with our doors to courses opening as soon as next week in paint spraying.”