Secondary pupils from across North Lanarkshire have taken part in a Dragons’ Den-style competition to find young entrepreneurs of the future.

The competition, launched last September, was open to all S4-6 pupils attending the authority’s 24 secondary schools.

The pupils had to design and produce a prototype, define their target market and set a price for their invention.

Pupils from St Ambrose High in Coatbridge set up Bandshift, a web package for small music groups, while a team from St Margaret’s High in Airdrie created heated insoles for shoes, a product targeted mainly at older people.

The final took place on 22 December at the Atrium Business Centre near Coatbridge. The competition was won by a team from Abronhill High in Cumbernauld with their creation Solvac - a solar-powered desktop vacuum cleaner.

Tom Maginnis, the council’s convener of regeneration, said: “The competition proved one thing beyond all doubt: North Lanarkshire has no shortage of budding business people.”