AAL REET HANS; We hire German builders.

Byline: JEREMY ARMSTRONG

OZ would be lost for words - German brickies are being hired on Tyneside.

In a reverse of classic TV series Auf Wiedersehen Pet, local firms are now recruiting from across the North Sea.

Builders like burly Oz - made famous by actor Jimmy Nail in the 1980s series about Geordies in Germany - are proving hard to come by.

Michael O'Connell, of the Construction Excellence group, set-up to promote skills in the building industry, said: "Taking workers from Germany may not have been given credence a few years ago. But now they complement local workers. It's the longest building boom I have known in 30 years.

"We have seen large numbers of immigrant workers in the South, and you will see more of them in the North East.

"Private sector initiatives provide finance for Government projects."

He also blames big money at London's Heathrow Terminal Five project for luring away locals.

"They pay pounds 50-75K a year to skilled workers.That all adds to problems recruiting up here."

CAPTION(S):

CLASSIC: Auf Wiedersehen cast, Nail third from left