Budding teenage inventors from West Cumbria have joined the launch of a new Bright Sparks competition.

An interactive day experiments and challenges has recently been held for 150 students from years eight and nine across five schools across Copeland and Allerdale.

This year's contest features Millom School, St Benedict’s in Whitehaven, Whitehaven Academy, Workington Academy, and St Joseph’s in Workington.

The aim of the Nugen's Bright Sparks competition is to provide enriching experiences for students and forge strong links with schools close to the proposed Moorside project.

Students visited NuGen’s Moorside information centre at Whitehaven Civic Hall for an interactive day about low-carbon electricity, how it’s made, how it’s used and its role in combating climate change.

During three days of science-filled activities, students joined science presenter Ross Exton, who brought the history and the future of electricity to life. They took part in experiments and engineering challenges including an 3D interactive tour of NuGen’s proposed Moorside power station.

John Male, NuGen’s head of training and development, said: "The schools have been very supportive of our programme, and the students definitely followed suit. We were absolutely delighted with their enthusiasm and attitude to learning."

Students are now set to take part in field visits and lessons supported by NuGen.

They will work on a science, technology, engineering and maths related project and will present their results the end of the year, during the Bright Sparks Schools’ Energy Conference. Youngsters could also receive a prestigious CREST Silver award for their efforts.

Steve Scally, head of technology at St Benedict’s School, said: "We’ve come back for a second year because the students that were involved last year got so much out of it - in terms of team work and developing a greater understanding of the subject.

"The students get a chance to spend longer focusing on one specific issue and learning about in much more depth, and the chance to learn outside of the classroom is a really good experience."

And Tim Bradbury, head of science at Whitehaven Academy, said: "We had 30 to 40 students take part in last year’s programme and they learned an awful lot about low carbon electricity production.

"Bright Sparks is relevant to their education and it’s an opportunity for the students to learn in a slightly different environment, and to learn some fantastic skills, including presentation skills, project management, time management and budgeting as well. It’s really important for companies like NuGen to get involved within the communities in which they are working."