The first annual hovercraft race since Covid at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form in Darlington was a great success.

Eight teams of secondary school children worked on creating the best hovercrafts possible.

Their craft had to be inflated by a leafblower before being dragged across the sports hall to the finish line.

The event aims to encourage more young people to get involved with engineering.

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Joanne Crowther, event organiser for J&J Projects, said: "We are having a lot of fun here.

""We have been running this project for 10 years now.

"This is the fitst time we  have done the event since Covid. 

"We were going to do it in 2020 but it was cancelled. We are absolutely delighted to be back.

"It's a great challenge and we have a really good number of schools here taking part."

The teams were all gathered in the sports hall to design their various craft to take on the challenge.

They were given a range of materials by the sixth form to create the best hovercraft possible.

Each team had to select someone to sit on the craft and another to pull it along.

Lots of the pilots were spilled from the craft during the sprint to the finish line.

The schools taking part included: Hummersknott School, Haughton Academy, Wyvern Academy, Hurworth School, St Aldan's Church of England Schoo, Bishop Barrington, Bedale School, Staindrop School.

John Barker, a teacher at Hummersknott School, described how the event helped students see a more practical side of engineering.

He said: "It's really a way to bridge the gap between engineering at GCSE and A-Level.

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"We have brought Year 9 and 10s today. It's been an experience for our pupils being in Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form.

"It gives them a flavour of what is to come and it helps them working together as a team."