Identical twin brothers Gavin and Andrew Trowles have enjoyed parallel lives.

They attended the same schools and technical college, worked in the same part-time jobs, and today, they both graduate from the University of Teesside with BSc (Hons) degrees in Computer Science and receive the British Computer Society Prize for best dissertations.

The similarities do not end with today's graduation ceremony, at Middlesbrough Town Hall, for the twins are now working in the same room as computer programmers for Connexions card in Darlington.

The workplace is a family affair, as their mother, Jennifer, works along the corridor for the teachers' pensions agency, Capita.

Gavin and Andrew, 23, are from Darlington and former pupils of Branksome Comprehensive and Darlington Technical College.

Gavin, the oldest of the twins by two minutes, said: "We've always got on really well.

"We both were interested in computers from the age of seven, thanks to our father, Alan, who was really into computers at home."

Andrew said: "We both worked in a DIY store part-time throughout the degree and the customers sometimes had difficulty telling us apart.

"Even our industrial year was on the same site at Wilton. I was at Huntsman and Gavin at Enron, so we still saw a lot of each other.

"We achieved the same marks in the course, and both got 2.1s."