SCHOOLGIRLS designed a rollercoaster for Blackpool Pleasure Beach as part of a creative competition.

Pupils from Moorhead Sports College in Accrington and Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle competed against four other schools from across Lancashire to devise an exciting and innovative ride.

The competition, which was held at the Leyland Hotel, aimed to encourage Bangladeshi and Pakistani girls to become enthusiastic about science and technology.

The event was organised by Lancashire Education Business Partnership (LEBP) with Setpoint Lancashire, and was part of the three-year STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) access project.

The girls worked in teams of four to create a poster illustrating their rollercoaster design.

The winners, from Moor Park School, Preston, took home wristbands for Blackpool Pleasure Beach after wowing judge Andrea Godfrey, the education co-ordinator at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, who was encouraged to see the level of participation in the competition.

She said: "I was very impressed by the quality of the entries and the enthusiasm put in."

Joanne Crompton of LEBP said: "Science and technology is an important part of the way everything around us works and can even be as fun as designing rollercoasters. We hope that many will continue to study the subject and take it up as an employment option."