THREE talented children from a small village school have won the top three prizes in a competition to design a drone.

The youngsters from Allithwaite CE Primary School were recognised in the North West section of the Design a Drone competition held by Amazon and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Orrin Gillings was awarded first place for the weatherproof drone he designed, it was built entirely from recycled materials. Second place was awarded to Alesha Porter for her MSDB drone, the idea of this being to deliver medical supplies around the world. Iggy Random Love came in third place with his medical delivery drone. This would deliver medicines that could easily fit into a can.

Lauren Kisser, operations director at Amazon Prime Air, said: “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."

Each pupil was given a gift basket of science, technology, engineering and maths prizes.

A national winner for the competition will now be selected from 12 regional finalists. The winner will get the opportunity to travel to the Amazon Prime Air Lab in Cambridge. Their design will be exhibited for a year.

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.”