ENTERPRISE was rewarded when a group of youngsters from The Observatory School, Bidston survived a Dragon's Den-type grilling to reach the regional stages of an entrepreneurial challenge.

Wirral Partnership Homes hosted the local heat in the brand new Starship Enterprise Competition which is being introduced to Year 10 students across North West and Pennine Regions.

The competition will be part of this year’s Young Flyers Awards ceremony held by the Airport Group, an informal alliance of housing associations.

Based on the Dragon's Den format, three teams of up to six young people from local schools gave a presentation on an idea they have come up with for an affordable, sustainable and feasible service or product that would be funded by WHP.

Competing against The Observatory School,  were teams from Meadowside School, Woodchurch and Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, Moreton – all with students who have special or complex needs.

The 'Dragons' on the day were Patrick McCarthy, deputy chief executive at WPH, Jamie Martin, WPH's head of community regeneration and Paul Growney, business development officer at Wirral Council for Voluntary Services.

All three schools performed well  but The Observatory School’s  idea of producing fibreglass model boats and bird feeders made the best impression.

They now go through to the final at Manchester United Football Club in April.

Patrick McCarthy said: "The Dragon’s Den experience has given these three groups of local young people the opportunity to demonstrate their entrepreneurial flair and imagination.

"We saw three potential new businesses today and hope that they all have a chance to develop into reality."