Pupils learnt the appliance of science when a touring laboratory visited their school.

Staindrop Comprehensive School was visited by The Lab, which aims to encourage more young people into doing science.

The Lab has a series of hands-on experiments and is run by volunteers.

It has been funded by the Institute of Physics and the Schlumberger Foundation.

Ewan McIntyre, the operation co-ordinator, said: "We've been getting some really good reactions.

"It's about showing kids what they can do in science and getting them interested.

"We feel that in the future, if we don't do something, there could be a shortage of scientists so we've got to try and fill the gap."