A Chepstow company has helped budding engineers build a 15-metre replica of the Second Severn Crossing.

Pupils from Llandogo Primary School spent a day building the bridge as part of a demonstration organised by Mabey Bridge in conjunction with the Institute of Civil Engineers, aimed at introducing younger children to engineering.

The idea was suggested by Angharad Wrigley, a technical services engineer at Mabey Bridge who has two children, Lucas and Elliott, who attend the school.

"My children were very excited when they started learning about bridges because they know their mum works in bridging," said Angharad.

"So I suggested to the company that we organise and sponsor the loan of the Second Severn Crossing model to help with their studies.

"Mabey Bridge does a lot with local schools, colleges and universities, so was delighted to support the event. The children loved the exercise and when we asked who would like a career in engineering at the end of the day, they all put their hands up."

Headteacher Katie Pingree said: "The children really enjoyed building the bridge, and it was a perfect exercise to help with the Design, Technology and Science project we have been working on, which is all about bridging through the ages.

"The children will now be working on their own competitions to design and build bridges and the demonstration certainly provided a lot of ideas and helped with their understanding of how bridges work."

Chris Droogan, CEO at Mabey Bridge, said: "South Wales has a rich heritage in steel engineering, and the passion for engineering runs deep in the people of the region. Mabey Bridge is committed to building on that heritage and believes that South Wales has a bright future ahead of it in steel engineering.

"We are pleased that the bridge building event at Llandogo Primary School hopefully inspired a future generation of engineers."

The plywood and aluminium bridge is owned by the Institute of Civil Engineers and the instruction on how to build the bridge was delivered by four engineers from Laing O'Rourke on behalf of the Construction Industry Training Board, as well as Ed Chapel, a graduate engineer at Mabey Bridge.

Mabey Bridge will also be donating a further £250 to be used on other educational activity.