STUDENTS from St Bees Village School will battle it out to be crowned champions of a prestigious Lego competition at the weekend.

The national First Lego League UK and Ireland final takes place in Bristol on Saturday and will see more than 500 young people taking part.

The team of 10, called St Bees Stars, beat off competition from other Cumbrian schools earlier this month to reach the final.

Teacher Karen Winn, who has worked with the team alongside deputy head Laura Storey, said: “We are delighted at how well they have co-operated and so proud of them and their achievements.

“It will be a once in a lifetime experience for them.

“They have worked so hard, meeting twice every week after school as well as doing extra research at home.”

Mrs Storey added: “The determination and creativity shown by the team is a pleasure to witness.

“We are raring to go in the finals - come on St Bees Stars, we’re all behind you!”

The science and technology challenge, which is aimed at nine to 16-year-olds, has an Into Orbitism theme and is all about space and how humans survive for extended periods in the environment.

The event will be the largest ever final where teams are tasked to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and create an innovative solution to a real world problem.

Mandy Workman, First Lego League IET Education Manager, said the league allows young people to experience engineering in action.

“Developing computer programming, teamwork, problem-solving and communications skills has never been so much fun and gives students an insight into the creative and innovative careers that engineering presents,” she added.