STUDENTS battled it out with their high-tech friends as part of a regional robot contest.

St Helena School hosted the event, and about 20 teams took part from across East Anglia and London.

The worldwide event, run by VEX IQ and supported by Rapid Electronics, is for students in Years 5 to 8.

Senior science technician at the school, William James, said: "A lot of schools in the area are able to teach robotics thanks to Rapid Electronics, they have provided a number of free robot kits over the years.

"There is a new VEX game which is released every year and the students have to build robots to play those particular games."

The challenges include a driver challenge, building software, and a knockout challenge where schools have to work in pairs to beat other robots.

Mr James said it was a great way to bring the schools together.

Schools taking part included North Primary School, St Helena School and the Stanway School, all in Colchester, and six other schools from across the region took part.

The winners were the Chromagicals, from Greig City Academy in London.

St Helena School finished fifth, the Stanway School finished ninth and North Primary School came eighth.