A BOUT of robot wars has seen a Stevenage school emerge victorious in a county-wide event, as expert engineers and an MP watched on.

Marriotts School took the spoils alongside Hoddesdon’s John Warner School as they teamed up to win the fourth Hertfordshire Robot Rumble.

Despite wintery conditions delaying the start time by two hours, over 100 pupils took part in the MBDA-sponsored event following three months of design, development and build work by the teams, with the Stevenage business’ tech expert Malcolm Rush and Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland dishing out the awards.

A total of 12 two-team robot alliances competed against each other at North Herts College in a series of games involving donut-shaped rings and a knock-out phase to determine the winners, after receiving mentoring from MBDA graduate engineers.

Also among those to impress the judges were “The Lost Boys” from Stevenage’s Barnwell School, who were given an award for Best Presentation, while Hitchin Girls School picked up the Endeavour accolade.

Speaking after the event, Mr McPartland commended MBDA for its continuing support of industry and education projects and reflected on the growth of the Robot Rumble event over the past three years.