YOUNGSTERS who created a homemade eco-friendly car clinched a top result after racing their vehicle around the streets of Rotterdam in a prestigious competition.

A team of students and teachers from Tendring Technology College took part in the Shell Eco Marathon in Holland.

They built their streamlined energy-efficient racer over several weeks.

Last week the team travelled to Rotterdam to test their creation on a specially mapped out street course as part of the contest organised by fuel giant Shell.

They faced off against a mass of teams to see who had built the most economic car.

Tendring team captain Tom Philpot, 14, said: “It was exciting to be a part of.

“Ours was the youngest team there by quite a long way but we were the number one team from the UK. It felt absolutely brilliant to do so well after we’d put so much work in."

The Tendring team went up against 80 other teams in its category, while a massive 200 cars were entered overall.

On their best lap they managed a whopping 2,906 miles-per-gallon average, good enough to place them tenth amongst European teams and 16th in the world.

The TTC car cost about £3,000 to create, with cash raised through sponsorship from local businesses and donations from Frinton Residents Association and Frinton and Walton Town Council.