CONCORDE was piece of inspired Anglo-French engineering. And now Swindon businesses have a chance to do their bit for the entente cordiale.

The University of Bath is running placements for French students from the Institut des Techniques d'Ingenieur in Nantes.

It will see dozens of French students who are studying for the equivalent of a masters' course in mechanical engineering or industrial computing come to the south west.

The majority of students will be undertaking unpaid placements with firms in Swindon, Salisbury, Bath and Bristol.

Val Skinner, the university's development manager in the lifelong learning department, said: "These placements are an excellent opportunity for local firms to take advantage of a free engineering, computing or management resource.

"Some people think the university is only interested in working with large employers but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Often it is the smaller organisations which can gain most from an injection of resource of this type.

"These students are capable of tackling important projects such as designing databases and writing complex computer programs which smaller organisations struggle to find the time to tackle.

"Employers have a great chance to get an international perspective on their work and to know they are contributing to the students' education."

The French students, aged between 20 and 24, are due to arrive in the UK at the end of April.

They will undertake a six-week English language course to fine-tune their business English before the placements, which run from June 6 to July 15.

Each of the students are provided with accomodation and food by local families during their time staying in the South West area.

Anyone who would like to find out more about the scheme, or offer their company as a possible placement, can contact Rachel Owens in the university's lifelong learning division on 01225 386146, or at r.h.owens@bath.ac.uk