PLAYFUL youngsters of today could be the ingenious engineers of tomorrow after taking part in a model making competition.

Pupils from seven schools competed in the Great Engineers School Challenge at Locomotion, the National Railway Museum at Shildon, in County Durham.

Each group was given six identical Meccano kits and tasked with creating the most impressive models they could.

The entries were judged by STEM ambassadors- a network of people who support students, teachers and professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Deaf Hill Primary School, in Trimdon Station, won for a second year with Glendene Arts Academy, in Easington Colliery, and Trimdon Junior School, in Trimdon Village, in second and third spot.

The event was launched last October by a local Meccano society with just three schools so organisers were delighted to more than double the numbers this year.

It aims to encourage children to follow in the footsteps of the world’s greatest engineers- like Isambard Kingdom Brunel and George Stephenson.

Harry Harker, chairman of the Great Engineers Schools Challenge, said: “We are delighted in the uptake in schools for the challenge this year as the project continues to grow.

“We are really impressed with the standard of models that the children have produced.

“Our aim is to work with children and get them to think about and understand the principles of engineering.”