An initiative which inspires girls to pursue careers in science has marked its 10th anniversary.

Thousands of children have taken part in Skirting Science over the past decade, as organiser Soroptimist International Weston (SIW) seeks to narrow the gender gap in the field.

The workshop was held at Churchill Academy and Sixth Form on June 28, with more than 250 girls from a total of 15 schools taking part.

The youngsters enjoyed a presentation by Dr Ozak Esu, who won the young woman engineer award in 2017, and then took part in experiments involving DNA, blood examination and robots.

SIW president Ruth Thomas said: “We are proud to have started this event 10 years ago, to which schools still send their year nine girls.

“We are doing our best to inspire girls to take up science by showing them how varied and interesting their lives could be. There is still a gender gap in science and we are trying to change that”