A STUDENT business venture could win four teenagers a national award for budding entrepreneurs.

The group from Sunnydale School, Shildon, will travel to London at the end of the month to compete in the televised final of the Big Zipper Student Challenge, a competition designed to find the UK's most creative young minds.

They will compete against nine other regional winners from all over the country in the contest, which is organised by the BBC's award-winning business programme Working Lunch, in co-ordination with the Design Council and the British Chamber of Commerce.

Students across the UK were asked to come up with an idea for a product or service that would benefit their school or community. The idea had to make a difference and be viable.

Danielle Taylor, Vanessa Everitt, James Batten, all aged 15, and Martin Tennick, 14, who are all studying the entrepreneurship course at the school, came up with an idea called Family Fotos.

The venture aims to provide affordable student photographs for parents who find normal school photographs too expensive.

Once the group's members have received tuition in photography, they intend using a digital camera, which has been bought with a grant from the County Durham Business and Learning Partnership, to take the photographs and print them with frames.

The business has already won the north-east round of the competition.

The group's presentation at the final will be filmed with the nine other challengers. The winner will be announced on the Working Lunch programme on Wednesday, April 24.

Deputy headteacher at the school, John Sewell, said: "We launched the entrepreneurship course this year to give our students a 'can-do' attitude to life.

"They have lost no time in showing everyone just how well they can do when given the opportunity. We are absolutely thrilled by their achievement in making it to the final.'