PUPILS from across East Lancashire have been given the chance to win £20,000 worth of laboratory furniture for their school.

A competition to design the school science lab of the future has been launched by the boffins at Innova Design Solutions.

The firm, which specialises in interior furniture for educational settings, was recently responsible for the overhaul of food technology rooms at Southlands High School in Chorley.

Now it is asking talented young scientists, designers and engineers to gaze into their crystal balls and submit their futuristic designs for their latest contest.

Innova, based in Heaton Chapel, near Stockport, has also worked on workshops and classrooms at Burnley's University Technical College.

In addition to the main prize of the chance to transform their school with state-of-the-art laboratory furniture, the winning team will also take home a £1,000 prize to share between them, or £250 for an individual entry.

Melanie Laing, director at Innova Design Solutions said: “We’ve worked with lots of schools and we know how talented students can be when creating futuristic ideas.

“The Lab of the Future competition is a great opportunity for young designers and scientists of tomorrow to flex their creative muscles and let their imaginations run wild.

“The judges will be looking for ideas that are innovative and original, but entrants also need to take into account how the space will work for students and teachers and think about the health and safety issues involved.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing what students think East Lancashire’s school science labs will look like in 20 years’ time.”

The competition, which is open to 11 to 16 year olds from secondary schools, including academies and independent secondary schools, aims to discover how today’s students think science teaching and classrooms will change over the next decade or two.

Speaking about the company's previous work in Burnley, a spokesman for Innova added: "Innova developed an electronics laboratory, a prep room, plus five new state-of-the-art science laboratories complete with teacher walls, ICT work stations and demonstration areas to compliment the original building and accommodate a broad range of teaching styles, classroom to group, collaborative work, theory and practical studies."

The competition is open until Friday 27th February 2015 and a panel of industry and academic experts will judge the entries.