STUDENTS from across East Lancashire demonstrated their technological skills as part of an annual tournament.

Schools were pitched against each other for the Rotary-organised technology tournament which was sponsored by BAE Systems.

Regional competitions took place at 10 venues across Lancashire and Cumbria including at Nelson and Colne College and The Hollins Technology College in Accrington.

Youngsters were tasked with designing, building and demonstrating a pipeline mole - a device to run down a pipeline and clear debris, at three different levels of difficulty - foundation, intermediate and advanced.

The winning teams for the event held at Hollins were St Augustine’s RC High School in Billington who won the foundation category, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn, who scooped the intermediate award and Darwen Aldridge Community Academy who won the advanced section.

The awards were judged by Blackburn rotarian Don Fraser-Clark while prizes were presented by district governor Malcolm Baldwin of the Rotary Club of Accrington.

In Pendle students from Nelson and Colne College, Haslingden High School, Colne Primet Academy and Pendle Vale College took part.

Colne Primet won the foundation prize, Haslingden won the intermediate for the third year in a row and Nelson and Colne College the advanced.

Rotarian Geoff Atkins, event organiser, said: “It was another excellent tournament and there was a real buzz in the hall in the afternoon when the students were busy testing the moles.”

Haslingden student Leon Barker-Williams, 16, said: “It was one of the easier tasks that we had been set compared to the previous competitions. It was only once we had made it and we carried our trials that we encountered a few problems.

“The inside of the pipe was slippery and the wheels would not grip so we solved it by putting elastic bands on them.”

Craig Greenwood, head of design technology at Haslingden, said: “They have been a winning team for the last three years so I wasn’t going to change the members. It is fantastic achievement to win the trophy three times.”

Brent Marshall, section manager for engineering at Nelson and Colne College, said: “It was an honour for the college to host the technology tournament again and it has become a popular event in the calendar.

“Some of the ideas developed by students during the day were brilliant and for NCC to win the advanced level category really was the icing on the cake.”