IDENTICAL twins Rebecca and Victoria Smith have now got even more in common after both graduated with distinctions from a North-East university.

The sisters, from Hamsterley Colliery, near Consett, in County Durham, have gained masters degrees with distinction in Flood Risk Management at Newcastle University.

For their dissertations, the 22-year-olds explored flood risk management for areas of Newcastle.

Victoria focused on water management options for Newcastle Town Moor, while Rebecca investigated storing run off on Leazes Moor to reduce the risk of flooding to the city centre and Newcastle University campus.

Rebecca said: “We have a particular interest in flood management and the course was just perfect to study something we’re interested in.

“It was a really good programme, in which we had to challenge ourselves quite often.

“It was an interesting course and a great opportunity to become fully aware of what flood management entails.”

The course is offered at the university’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and combines practical and computational components to equip students with the knowledge of the water environment and flood risk management.

Victoria said: “It was really good to learn from the people who are world experts in climate change and people whose interests are in what we wanted to study.

“The dissertations were the pinnacle of the course and we got to work really close with the supervisors to do something that was really interesting.”

Rebecca added: “With climate change people need to prepare themselves for the potential increase in rainfall and the subsequent risk of future flooding.

“It is imperative to understand and attempt to manage the growing flood risk, especially in-light of the recent flood events across the UK.”

The budding researchers are part of a growing number of female engineering students at Newcastle University.

Senior lecturer Dr Paul Quinn supervised the twin sisters’ dissertation projects.

He said: “In recent years the urgency to solve real world problems in our own back yard has become more important than ever.

“The issue of flooding in Newcastle and across the UK could not be more important as we see once again record floods in the Eden and the Tyne.

“Rebecca and Victoria have pitched in with full effort and have taken the issue of solving floods in Newcastle to level where the ideas proposed in their dissertation are now receiving serious consideration.

“Their work was highly skilled and thoughtful and they certainly kept me busy. I really enjoyed working with them on their dissertation and know they will do well in their new roles as problem solvers of the future.”