Potential students should ensure that a training centre is reliable before enrolling on a course, according to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).

Taunton and District CAB manager Liz Fothergill told thisiswestcountry.co.uk that an increasing number of people were spending money with training centres that falsely promised marketable qualifications and employment.

Many people, who had completed plumbing courses and green energy courses, had lost large amounts of money because the training they received was not accredited by a professional organisation and had little significance, claimed Ms Fothergill.

Ms Forthergill advised people to research a training centre before applying for a course to ensure that it is approved by the relevant industry authorities and provides the appropriate training with recognised qualifications.

She told the website: "If you're looking for work it's natural to think about improving your job prospects through skills training, but it pays to do your homework first.

"Otherwise you could find yourself seriously out of pocket and no better qualified than when you started."

Ms Fothergill said that the unscrupulous training centres are targeting the increasing number of unemployed people on benefits who are looking to retrain and start a new career in a different industry.

Some people who enrol with an unaccredited training centre take a loan to finance the course with the promise of a permanent job at the end, only to find the course is not reputable and they are still jobless and in debt, according to the bureau manager.

"CAB is seeing more and more cases involving the promise of a job at the end - a particularly despicable scam at a time when so many people have been made redundant and are desperate for work," she told the website.

People who are looking to take plumbing courses, electrical courses or carpentry courses should only train with a centre that is affiliated with the appropriate organisations.

Reputable construction industry courses will be approved by organisations such as City & Guilds, Construction Awards Alliance, EAL, NICEIC and CITB for gas training courses.

It is also important to check that training centres offer official qualifications such as an NVQ in order to improve their employability and job prospects once they leave the centre.

Between now and the end of 2010, new qualifications are being developed and placed on the Qualifications and Credit Framework. These new qualifications will eventually take the place of current vocational qualifications.