SWEEPING garden leaves will never be the same again, thanks to clever work by a Teesside student.

Stephanie McGovern, 19, from Middlesbrough, has won a £500 regional prize for her invention for Black and Decker in Spennymoor, County Durham,and now stands to win £2,000 of national prize money.

The prize was awarded by the Northern Association of the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) as part of the Year in Industry Scheme.

The EEF is the voice of engineering, promoting the interests of the UK's engineering, manufacturing and technology-based industries. It has 13 branches across the UK, including the Northern Association, which boasts a membership of 300.

Stephanie, spent a year at Black and Decker in Spennymoor. While there, she applied sophisticated improvement techniques to the production of a part used in the company's Leaf Hog, leaf vacuum.

The changes she recommended improved the vacuum, which pushes air through the sweeper, saving Black and Decker substantial expenses.

Under the Year in Industry Scheme, students who have left school spend a year in a company before going on to university.

EEF director Alan Hall, said: "The students have no previous experience and this enables them to look at a problem with fresh eyes.

"During the year they make remarkable contributions to their host companies businesses.

"Stephanie's project was a great success and we are keen to encourage other companies to take on students like Stephanie in the future.

"She now goes forward to the EEF's national competition in September, with a first prize of £2,000 up for grabs."

Stephanie left Macmillan College on Teesside in July and starts a three-year degree course in mechanical engineering at Imperial College, London, later this year.