BP is in the process of training around 4,500 previously unemployed workers in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida in order to tackle the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

CNN reports that the company is training beach cleaners and supervisors, with the first 400 trained workers deployed in Florida on Saturday (June 12th).

Robby Cunningham, spokesman for the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, said there has been a huge interest in the training programme.

"This event is still unfolding and as we need to employ more people to clean up the beaches, we are prepared to do so," he said.

Depending on the position, workers will go through between four and 40 hours of training before being deployed to tackle the spill.

BP has invested millions of dollars in emergency training since the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 22nd, which was caused by an explosion onboard the rig two days earlier.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development