STUDENTS at a special school were left awestruck when a royal visitor came to inspect their work.

The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, spent an hour looking around Catcote School, in Hartlepool, talking to students and staff.

He was there to see the work that has been done by students on the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

During his visit, the earl sampled some of the students’ cooking and saw all the vocational skills available at the school.

“It went brilliantly,” said headteacher Alan Chapman.

“What we wanted to do was demonstrate the abilities of everyone at the school and show what a wide variety of vocational skills the students are learning.”

The earl was given a demonstration of the lifesaving techniques that two of the students have learnt on the scheme, as well as witnessing the hard work they put into looking after their equipment.

The man in charge of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme at the school, Alan Pounder, said: “The pupils found it really exciting to meet the earl, some of them were a little bit in awe of him.

“He was very talkative and seemed really interested in what they pupils had to say.”

After leaving the school, the earl visited the Hartlepool Maritime Museum for a tour of the site before finishing off his visit to the town at St Hild’s School.