It's celebrations all round for two employees of HJ Banks (Construction) Ltd in West Cornforth, Durham.

They graduated this week with a BEng (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering, and also prizes for their performance.

Assistant site engineer David Shea, 22, is only one of three people in his year to achieve a First Class degree. He has also gained the John Henderson Design Prize and the Marshall's Group prize.

Projects manager Mark Short, 34, achieved a 2.1 degree after four years of part-time study, as well as the Cecil M Yuill prize.

David, of Premier Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, followed in the footsteps of his father, Terry, when he enrolled at the university with four A-levels in physics, pure and applied mathematics, design and technology and general studies. Terry, 55, who gained a Higher National Certificate in Building at Teesside Polytechnic in 1970, is an inspections officer at Bradford and Northern Housing Association.

David said: "I was over the moon to get a First. It didn't sink in for about three days. I couldn't have got this job without the degree."

Mark, from Consett, has worked in the construction industry from the age of 19.