A UNIVERSITY has won £1,000 to build and test a design for hospital bedside lockers.

The University of Teesside has been awarded a grant for the sum by the Audi Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at encouraging young designers.

Students came up with the design after being contacted by Middlesbrough General Hospital's spinal injuries unit, which wanted easily accessible storage space for patients.

Bob Clay, the university's lecturer in industrial design, said: "Spinal injured patients have acute problems in trying to access lockers when lying in bed and also from wheelchairs. So I set this problem to our second year students. Patients were consulted and we visited the spinal injuries unit several times."

The ideas of students Andy Colley, of Stockton, Teesside, and Simon Ritchie, of Peterlee, County Durham, were incorporated into the final design.

Mr Clay said: "Thanks to the cash injection from the Audi Foundation, we will now build a prototype and carry out tests.

"Hopefully, our final design will be suitable for manufacture and will be of benefit to all hospital patients.