A TEAM of enterprising schoolgirls are reaching for the stars with an invention they hope will help them win a business competition.

Eight pupils from Durham High School For Girls have developed a battery-powered guide to the constellations to help stargazing visitors to the Kielder Observatory.

The Star Struck guide is designed at youngsters aged eight to 12, who push in the LED lights on the black circuit board as they see the stars, which helps them identify the constellation in real-life later.

They came up with the idea as their entry for the Future Business Magnates competition, the Durham County Council-run contest which teams up schoolchildren with business mentors to develop their own enterprises.

Now in its tenth year, 24 schools are taking part in this year’s competition, with the winner unveiled at an award ceremony in Newton Aycliffe next month.

The theme of this year’s competition is to design a product based on light – to celebrate the United Nations’ International Year of Light and Durham’s acclaimed Lumiere festival.

The Durham schoolgirls visited the workshops of design manufacturer PDM (North East) Ltd in Bishop Middleham to get advice from managing director Mike Bourner.

Georgie McIlroy, 13, one of the team of eight inventors, said: “We came up with the idea because we wanted to make our product as child based and friendly as possible.”