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CELEBRITIES in Liverpool could soon be protected by home-grown security officers after the first bodyguard training school opened on Merseyside.

Burly close protection officers have become the latest accessories for stars such as Britney Spears and Victoria Beckham.

Now a Liverpool company has set up a 21-day government-approved course to serve VIPs visiting the city.

The first group of bodyguards are already halfway through the course and have learnt skills including surveillance and advanced driving. As well as learning how to spot tiny cameras the size of a thumbnail which could be used to bug their clients, they have also been taught how to check for bombs.

For one exercise, the group are each given a "target" to follow on foot and by car and then have to escape from an ambush. For one exercise, the group are each given a "target" to follow on foot and by car and then have to escape from an ambush. Another task is to take a woman VIP shopping - in case they are asked to protect a celebrity such as Wayne Rooney's fiancee Coleen McLoughlin.

Tony Hughes, owner of GDM Facilities and Training, pictured left, based in Duke Street, and a former Royal Guardsman, said: "Celebrities may want bodyguards for show, but in the corporate world it's all about being discreet. "It's not a requirement to be big - you just have to be switched on.

The course is very popular - 75 people have enquired about our next one and we only have 15 places.” "All the VIPs coming to Liverpool have had to bring their own close protection officers with them - but now they won't have to."

Bodyguard student Andre Smith, from Orrell Park, said he was surprised at how much there was to learn. The doorman, who works in the city centre, said: "The surveillance was very interesting with lots of toys and gadgets. But it's not about fast cars and sunglasses; it's about being non-confrontational. Working with corporate clients you need to blend in."