YOUNG designers and engineers turned their brain power into horsepower for a school competition.

Tanfield School, near Stanley, held a watersports challenge, with students racing mini-boats.

The year eight pupils spent a week designing and building the vessels. The design brief was to create a fast-moving boat that would carry an egg along a three-metre water trough.

The 16 teams worked with 40 year five pupils from four of Tanfield's feeder schools - Tanfield Lea Juniors and Burnopfield, Shield Row and East Stanley Primary schools.

The event was organised by teachers Richard Seaton and Michael Pierson.

It was part of Tanfield's ongoing work in the community, after it became only the third education centre in the UK to achieve combined specialist status for science and engineering last year.

Specialist school co-ordinator Sue Smith said: "It went fantastically well.

"The year-five pupils loved it and thanked everyone at the end, because they had such a brilliant day."

The fibreglass hulls and troughs were donated by Lamplas, a plastics firm based in Consett.

Prizes were awarded for the fastest boat, the best graphic design on the side of the hull and the best written evaluation of the project.

They were presented by Jim D'Eath, of Lamplas, and Warren Pescod, former professor of engineering at Newcastle University and chairman of the Tanfield Association, a network group of former pupils which was set up to support the work of the 91-year-old school.

The school also held a non-uniform day, with proceeds going to the Water Aid charity, which provides clean drinking water for communities in developing countries.