Smart science students have scooped the top two places in a Sellafield engineering competition and secured £1,000.

Two teams of year eight pupils at West Lakes Academy fought off competition from three other local school teams to win the money.

It will be used to attend the National Big Bang Fair in Birmingham next month.

Dr Sandie Dixon, a science teacher at the academy, said: "Both teams were amazing - they stayed behind after school, designed and budgeted to make sure they didn’t go over cost."

Students were set the task of designing a bridge to span the river Calder to a budget and within a time frame, while considering environmental and building costs. Each team had six members who all had their own job roles to consider.

"Their bridges were quite different in design but both quite sturdy and met the customer’s requirements," said Dr Dixon.

"The calculations were no mean feat for year eight students and they also had to prepare their presentations to the customer on the day. The presentation from the winning group was very professional with hand outs and budgets for the materials used.

"It opened their eyes to the roles of engineers working together on massive projects in real life. The STEM subjects were put to good use in this task set by Sellafield Ltd and the students loved it."

The Big Bang Fair aims to encourage young people to seek higher education in science and engineering by providing them with an insight into the opportunities and rewards that a STEM career could bring.

It will be held at the NEC in Birmingham from March 15 to 18.