Primary schools across Cumbria are in the midst of preparing for the county's biggest entrepreneurial contest.

The Bright Stars challenge officially launched on Monday January 14 with more than 20 school hopefuls competing for a £150 cash prize.

Organised by the Centre for Leadership Performance and funded by local businesses, Bright Stars introduces children to the world of business whilst raising money for charity and winning funds for their schools.

Each Bright Stars school is given £50 to launch their their business and make money for a charity across eight weeks.

Th school flying the entrepreneurial flag for South Cumbria is year four students from Victoria Academy in Barrow.

The school has teamed up with Oxley Developments to provide the business hopefuls with essential advice and skills for the competition.

Putting Victoria Academy's mini-business under the spotlight, the Oxley group have set up a Dragons Den-style panel where pupils will pitch their idea to the company's CEO and other esteemed judges.

Jayne Moorby from Oxley Developments said: "The reason we get involved is because we are committed to young people developing business skills for the local area, they are the future employees.

"It's such a fun project to work on that that we get so much out of too.

The children show us a creative approach to business ideas which is really refreshing and a great learning curve for us too."