BRIGHT sparks Jodi Crowther and Steven Fairish were hailed as the engineers of the future at an industry conference.

The pair, both pupils at Tanfield School, Tanfield, near Stanley, won the Derwentside Young Engineering competition held recently.

They were held up as increasingly rare examples of budding engineering talent in a presentation to 30 North-East business leaders.

The event, held at the Riverside Ground, home of Durham County Cricket Club in Chester-le-Street, was organised by the County Durham Business and Learning Partnership. It aimed to address the decline in young people going into the industry and look at ways of making construction and engineering more popular among school leavers.

Patrick Brennan, business liaison co-ordinator at the County Durham Business and Learning Partnership, said: "The decline in the number of students interested in these subjects is a worrying trend. It is critical to the success of North-East companies that we reverse the pattern.

"We have a rich heritage in engineering and construction and it is only by developing greater links between local schools, students and businesses that we can protect this."

The keynote speaker was John Hodgson, director of the Derwentside Engineering Forum, who spoke about the importance of helping students to gain practical experience before they enter the workplace.

Jodi and Steven gave a presentation on winning the engineering contest, where they had to design battery-powered buggies and wind turbines.

Archie Howatt, head teacher at Tanfield School, said: "Taking part in the competition gave our students an opportunity to put into practice many of the lessons they learn in the classroom, as well as gaining practical experience working alongside local companies."