WINNERS from an awards night for the process industries have donated all their prize money to help local schools.

A total of £6,000 was donated following the announcement of this year's winners at the North East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic) awards at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield.

Nearly 500 industry leaders attended the evening to celebrate the achievements in the process industries, which include the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.

Dr Stan Higgins, chief executive of Nepic, said: "The prize winners are exceptional projects or exceptional people.

"This demonstrates that the process industries remain a great opportunity for a fantastic career, in an industry that takes its environmental and safety responsibilities seriously."

SembCorp Utilities UK and Merck Sharp and Dohme were joint winners of the environmental industrial award.

They donated their prize of £2,000 to South Bank Community Primary School, in Middlesbrough. Carillion PME Engineering won the safety award and donated its £2000 prize to Ormesby School, a specialist engineering school.

Wolsingham School and Community College, in Bishop Auckland, won the environmental schools award and also received a £2,000 cheque to contribute towards its environmental project.

Five young achievers from each sub-sector of the industry received prizes of £1,000 each.

Winners were Sharon Griffiths, of Specials Lab for Pharmaceuticals, Mike Gibson of Shasun for Fine & Speciality, Kirsty Winter, of Lucite International for Base Chemicals, Andrew Fenny of Avecia for Biotechnology, and Nicola Waller, of Chemical Industry Education Centre for Supply and Support.

The event was sponsored by ABB Global Consulting and award sponsors were BOC, Link Associates and R Blackett Charlton.