A TRAINEE electrician who has been turned down for nearly 200 jobs thinks it is because she is a woman.

Lynsey Everett has just finished a two-year City and Guilds course in electrical installation at Greenwich Community College.

She decided to be an electrician when a bad back forced her to quit her desk job at the Home Office.

The 24-year-old, the only woman in her class, is astonished by what she sees as blatant sexism in the electrical trade.

Miss Everett, of Harvey Gardens, Charlton, said: "The Government is always talking about equal opportunities and recruiting more women into the workforce but no-one wants to give me a chance."

Miss Everett needs on-the-job experience such as an apprenticeship to become fully qualified but she has been told she will not even be considered until she receives her final exam results in August.

But that has not stopped the same employers from offering work to some of the men on her course.

She said: "I saw one job through an agency in the Evening Standard, so I phoned them up.

"The woman asked me if I was calling about the job for my son, then burst out laughing when I told her it was for me.

"The next day I got my college tutor to call back and say he had the same qualifications as me. The same woman answered and asked him when he could come in for an interview."

A national telephone company told Miss Everett she was too old to join its apprenticeship scheme despite being within their age bracket and at an industry job fair she was told there were no vacancies.

She said: "I want to prove I can do it."

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