AN ARCH created by a team of Babcock apprentices to mark the centenary of Rosyth as a garden city has been officially opened by Provost Jim Leishman.

The structure in the town’s Public Park is the third produced by the company with the other two arches located at either end of the Fife Coastal Path at Kincardine and Newburgh.

It features the words ‘Rosyth Garden City Centenary 1916-2016’ and is a fitting follow-up to a year of centenary celebrations.

Seven Babcock apprentices – fabricators Melissa Cowan and James Murray, welders Robert Aitchison, Alan Nisbet and Alan Boland, and pipefitters Lee Paxton and Gordon Bowers – were involved in the project, assisted by Brandon Ferguson, an apprentice with Narvida.

Melissa said: “The arch looks fantastic in the park and I’m really proud to have played a part in it. It’s great to be able to give something back to the community and we learned so much from making it too.”

Ian Donnelly, Babcock’s managing director of the Rosyth site, added: “We are extremely proud of our third arch, which underlines our commitment to support the community and gives us an opportunity to showcase the skills and talents of our apprentices.”

Scarborough Muir Group (SMG) provided two plinth foundations and Wood Group painted the arch.

Mike Shirkie, part of the Take a Pride in Rosyth group, said: “I’m most grateful to the Babcock apprentices, SMG and Wood Group because I think it’s a fantastic project to give Rosyth to celebrate 100 years.

"The arch will be a lasting memorial for the town – it will be here for years to come.”