TWO North-East business school students have completed a double by coming first and second in a competition to understand the effects of advertising on children.

Ross Cockton and Ian Moody, from the University of Sunderland, beat competition from hundreds of entries from universities around the UK to win the Advertising Standards Agency's (ASA) 2006 Student Awards.

The challenge was made dificult by ASA guidelines forbidding direct advertising to children.

Among the ideas the two came up with was for a healthy pure fruit drink, Fruit Ice, and to use Celebrity Big Brother star Preston as an ambassador for healthy eating among children.

Mr Cockton, 20, who won first place, said: "We had to create an advertising campaign around a new soft drink for children, using the Internet and new media, such as blog sites and podcasts.

"I'm looking for a placement at a marketing or advertising company in the summer, and I learnt a lot of valuable lessons about being creative while sticking to the ASA's rules and regulations."

Mr Moody, 20, who came second, said: "It's a great way of improving your CV, and the guidance the ASA gave us will be really practical in our future careers." Donna Mitchell, from the ASA, said: "The ASA Awards were designed to encourage students to explore advertising regulation beyond the requirements of their course.

"They showed original thinking and very creative approaches to their proposed campaigns."