AN ergonomically designed food preparation kit complete with grooved chopping board and weighted knives has won Skipton Girls' High pupil Emman Qattan £1,200 for her school and £150 for herself.

Emman's A-level project was entered in Yortek's county wide design technology contest and won her the overall title as well as the 17-18 age group.

The annual competition aims to forge links between local schools and industry.

The 18-year-old - pictured above - said her chopping board and knives were designed to be comfortable for left or right handed users or for anyone who wanted to use both hands. Pendle Metal Craft cut the steel for the blades.

The chopping board is sloped and has grooves to grip the food and to encourage liquid to run away from the cutting area. It has been made in sections to give it extra strength.

The knives and board have been tested by chefs and at home. "It is easy to use and does cut down on preparation time because of the volume of food you can cut at once," said Emman.

She said she was shocked to have won the awards because there were other good entries.

Head of the design technology department Lisa Slater said she and Emman's project mentor Dawn Heaps were delighted with the accolade.

Miss Slater said the school had had successes in the past at the competition but never won the overall title. She said the prize money would fund much-needed resources for the department.

Emman is heading off to Coventry University in September to study international disaster engineering and management.

And at South Craven School Emily Cummins scored a hat trick after designing a toothpaste dispenser for people with arthritic hands.

"I spent a day with my grandfather," she explained. "I was looking at what he can and can't do with arthritis in his hands. He couldn't squeeze the toothpaste tube."

Emily, 15, from Cross Hills, designed a dispenser which sticks to the wall and has a large lever. The lever presses two metal plates which then squeeze the tube.

Her design attracted three awards at the engineering event.

She won £500 and a trophy from the Enterprise Challenge, £50 and £400 for the school from the Yortek Award to Schools and £200 in the Young Engineers for Britain Regional Final.

She will now go forward to the national final for the Young Engineers for Britain awards in September.

And Wilf Cummins will be getting the first prototype of his granddaughter's invention!