TWO Trowbridge schoolboys scooped first prize in a young engineering competition for their small-scale version of a famous London landmark.

Studley Green Primary School pupils Sam Reader and Thomas Darlington, both 11, beat competition from five other schools to win through to the regional finals of the Junior Engineer Challenge 2004.

Both boys had to work as a team to follow the competition brief and create their own scaled-down version of the former Post Office Tower, complete with revolving restaurant, in just 75 minutes.

Sam and Thomas will move onto the competition's regional heats, to be held at Bath University in July. The pair were also awarded £100 worth of K'Nex kit to take back to their school.

Headteacher Steve Wigley, who watched the closing stages of the event held at St Augustine's Catholic College on Saturday, said: "I was over the moon. Education is not just about SATS results, it is about thinking through issues and working as a team. These boys have done us proud."

The finals of the young engineering competition, organised by K'Nex, will be held in Birmingham in September.

Other primary schools that took part in Saturday's event included; St Joseph's, Malmesbury; Wingfield Primary, Trowbridge; St George's, Warminster; St Joseph's, Devizes and St Louis, Frome.