TWO students who tried to teach the world to eat insects have returned from a life-changing trip to the Amazon – their prize for winning a business contest.

Durham University students Sam Shuttleworth and Finlay Milner spent months convincing people to add bugs to their everyday diet, saying consuming insects is good for your health and good for the planet.

Their Student Grub project won npower’s Future Leaders enterprise competition, landing them a two-week trip to a tribal village in remote north-west Brazil, where they helped install solar panels and running water for the Huni Kai people.

The tribe previously had to carry water uphill from a natural source and had limited electricity.

Mr Milner said: “It was fantastic. It was bizarre, if anything. It was so radically different.

“Their lifestyle is so different and they’ve had so little contact with the outside world. They’re fascinated by technology.”

The student, who will return to his studies in October, is now undertaking a six-week internship with npower at Rainton Bridge, Wearside.

Also part of the 25-strong team in Brazil were npower workers Andrea Ansell and Lisa Mugridge, whose Future Leaders idea was to transform wasteland near their Rainton Bridge office into a wildflower meadow.