A SOUTH Lakeland sixth former went to extraordinary lengths to bring in his school project recently.

Ben Heseltine, 17, from Milnthorpe, took more than an hour and 20 minutes on his commute one morning to show off the tractor engine that he rebuilt as part of his Extended Project Qualification at Lancaster Royal Grammar School.

As well as studying for his A-levels, Ben has completed an EPQ and chose to focus on refurbishing the engine on a 1955 Ferguson TEF20 tractor and ended up restoring the whole tractor as well.

Teachers and pupils were delighted to see the tractor making its way into school.

“My dad bought the tractor about 20 years ago," said Ben, who has spent many hours in his spare time on the project. "It's been running since he bought it but has got progressively worse over the years, so I decided to take on the task.

"For my EPQ I rebuilt the engine with new liners, pistons and valves then machined the crankshaft with new shell bearings, all done at Lancaster Engines LTD, and as a result they have offered me a job.

"Then, once the engine was complete, I disassembled the rest of the tractor to totally strip it of paint, then I put new wings on and repainted the whole tractor with a small amount of welding needed to get rid of some holes in the body work.”

Ben was also recently awarded an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship, an accolade only offered to the most talented STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) students in UK schools, to help ensure that high-potential young people stay engaged in the engineering careers pipeline.

“I have always had a keen interest in design and engineering," said Ben. "I believe that the scholarship will help me greatly in my career as an engineer as not only will the funding assist any engineering based projects, but also the experience will help me to focus more solely on one part of the wide subject of engineering, which will benefit me enormously while choosing a university course.”

Mr Lemon, Head of Design and Technology at LRGS, said: “Ben is a very driven young man with a strong desire to work in the field of engineering.

"He is self-motivated and takes on tasks which help develop his skills over and above that which he does in lessons. He can often be found in the technology workshops working on the lathe making parts for his car, Land Rover or Massey Ferguson”.