Teens become UK Lego robotics champions

A group of teenagers, who started off by "messing around" with Lego have won the become UK champions in a robotics competition.

Malachi, James, Owen, Owen and Harry previously beat 20 other schools to earn their place in the First Lego League UK National Final.

The team, from Endon High School, Staffordshire, went on to win the competition in Harrogate on Saturday, and now have eight weeks to raise the funds to go to South Korea to compete in the next leg.

Their teacher, Shaun Mitchell, said: "I've done this for 10 years and I've had some phenomenal teams that have won all sorts of awards, but we've never gone and won."

The team stayed in school until six o'clock most evenings to get to where they have got, according to Owen, who said: "It's been after school for the past four months and the rest, we've just worked on it and worked on it after school."

His team-mate, also called Owen, put the win down not only to the practice they had put in but also the group themselves.

"We've got so close as a team not only in the robotics side but in lessons," he said.

Looking back at what they achieved and what it could mean for them, Harry described it as "incredible" the something that "started as four lads messing around in a room playing with Lego" could turn "into something so great".

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