THREE crafty students from St Benedict's Catholic High School fended off stiff competition from across the country to win a national design award.

Year 9 students Lilya Turner-Hurd, Umika Vadera and Beth Sykes recently spent two months creating a storage and carrying solution for transporting geraniums.

The trio won first prize in the national Paperworks Challenge organised by the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) for their concept, research and prototype, a cardboard container called ‘Green Geranium’.

They worked independently and only used resources within the school to make the a professional product, which was of the highest quality.

CPI Director Andy Barnetson, visited the Alcester school in July to present them each with a cash prize plus £250 for the school.

A judging panel highly praised the students' for their product.

"It’s clear the students put in maximum effort," they said.

"From the design itself to all the extras they included. They’ve gone above and beyond the brief, learnt from past designs and produced something that could have come out of a professional design studio."

Technology department head Mr Wright, added that he was "immensely proud" of the girls.