TALENTED students at a South Lakes school are flying high after winning a competition to design a drone.

Three creative youngsters from Allithwaite CE Primary School were handed the top prizes in the North West section of the ‘Design a Drone’ competition, run by Amazon, in partnership with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Over 1,700 students participated in the competition from across the UK.

Orrin Gillings was awarded the top spot for designing the weather-proof ZIP drone, which would be built entirely from recycled materials.

Second place went to Alesha Porter for her drone, which would deliver medical supplies to patients all around the world, and third place to Iggy Random Love for his Medical Delivery Drone which would deliver medicines that fit into a can.

The competition helped raise awareness of the CAA’s Drone Code, a simple set of rules and guidelines which outline how to fly drones safely and within the law in the UK.

Jonathan Nicholson, assistant director of communications at the CAA, said: “All the entries were absolutely amazing and it was great to see so many students showing an interest in drones. By the time they are adults, drones could well be playing key roles in everyday life. But for that to happen we need everyone who flies a drone now to do so safely.”

The successful young engineers were awarded their prizes in a special ceremony during a school assembly. Winning students took home gift baskets of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) prizes.

The first place regional winner also earned a cash donation of £1,000 for his school, to be spent on in-school STEM resources.

All primary school students in Years Two to Five in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were eligible to enter the competition.

Students were asked to design their interpretation of a delivery drone to serve a humanitarian purpose or improve society, such as first-response medical aid, sending flowers to a loved one who is unwell or delivering toys to children in need.

Lauren Kisser, operations director at Amazon Prime Air, added: “I’m delighted that the Design a Drone competition encouraged these students to unleash their creative thinking on how drones can be used to improve society. The entries we received were full of innovative and thoughtful ideas that could very well change the world one day.”

One national winner will be selected from the 12 regional finalists and have the opportunity to travel to the Amazon Prime Air Lab in Cambridge, UK, where their design will be exhibited for a year.