HUNDREDS of confident young speakers will thrash out a series of topical issues on the debating chamber floor in Durham this weekend.

Teams from 42 schools across the UK, plus a touring group of teenagers from Canada, take part in a competition organised by the Food Standards' Agency (FSA).

Durham Union Society's debating chamber on Palace Green, between the cathedral and castle, is the prestigious setting for the event which will culminate with a head-to-head final for the best four teams on Sunday evening.

The finalists will debate a motion set by the agency, 'this house would eat GM foods,' which will then be opened up to the rest of the weekend's contestants.

All the competing teams, including a touring party from St John's Ravenscroft School in Winnipeg, Canada, will stay in university accommodation over the weekend.

The agency is using the event as a forum to gauge opinion over the use of GM foods.

Three of the competing schools are from the North-East as a result of a bursary from the FSA.

These are St Leonard's RC Comprehensive School, Durham, plus Prudhoe Community High School in Northumberland, and St Joseph's School in Hebburn, South Tyneside