THERE were plenty of fireworks but a former Bournemouth student ran out of steam just before the final hurdle of the toughest job interview in the business.

It has been a roller-coaster ride for Natasha Scribbins but she fell just short of a place in tomorrow’s final when business mogul Sir Alan Sugar told her “you’re fired” in the penultimate episode of the hit TV show The Apprentice.

It had all looked rosy for the 31-year-old, who has a BA (Hons) in Hospitality Management from Bournemouth University, when the remaining candidates were tasked with setting up a fast food chain restaurant in the middle of London.

But Natasha was forced to say adios, despite claims her degree would help her colleagues win the task, after her team Venture’s Mexican restaurant failed to whet Lord Sugar’s appetite.

In the boardroom showdown the subject of Natasha’s degree was brought up once again. She defended herself by saying: “Yes, I have a degree but I don’t claim to have an expertise in it.”

However, Lord Sugar replied: “It’s a bit like me saying I’ve got a degree in first aid but if I see someone dying in the street saying ‘sorry I haven’t done it in 10 years’ and leave them alone.”

Firing her, he added: “You started off like a house on fire but I have found you a little lacklustre in the last few weeks.”

Appearing on BBC Two spin-off You’re Hired, the recruitment consultant, who now lives in Taunton, agreed with Sir Alan admitting that she felt like she had ran out of energy by the end of the 11-week stint. She said: “I gave so much energy in the beginning that by the time I got to the end I had run out of gas.”