A television personality and engineer visited students at the Energy Coast UTC to share his experiences with students.

'Scrapheap Challenge' presenter Dick Strawbridge MBE popped into the Lillyhall school while he was attending a Sellafield Ltd excellence event in the area.

"I would like to thank Sellafield Ltd for inviting Dick Strawbridge to meet with our students," said principal Cherry Tingle.

"His passion and knowledge for engineering are inspiring. Our students and staff enjoyed his visit, and his expert advice was greatly received by our students."

Mr Strawbridge met with students and discussed a wide range of engineering topics including buoyancy principles, flotation co-efficients and geodesic domes.

UTC teacher Craig Coulson said: "It was wonderful to have Mr Strawbridge visit the college.

"He was inspirational, and his infectious enthusiasm for engineering coupled with his vast experience has enabled the students to look at engineering and its challenges in different ways."

And Stuart McCourt, from Sellafield, said: "Dick was delighted to meet Energy Coast UTC students and stayed longer than planned.

"Students talked him through their challenge and Dick gave some great background on methods he had used for lifting items from his many previous projects and how the same buoyancy principles applied to their project."