A TEENAGER has seen his hard work pay off after he received a top engineering award.

Oliver Thornton, from Tillingham, was awarded the main prize in a big engineering competition.

The 17-year-old entered the Chelmsford Science and Engineering Competition with his personally designed and built unmanned aircraft.

Oliver completed his A levels at Saint John Payne School, Chelmsford.

Dad Patrick says his son has had a passion for engineering since he was just six years old.

The annual competition showcases the fantastic work that students across Essex do in design and technology as well as science and engineering.

Students are judged by various companies across Essex and London, including Ford, Leonardo and Telydyne E2V.

All the students performed on the day and were invited to a celebration evening at Anglia Ruskin University.

Oliver received the Engineering Project of the Year Trophy, and was praised for the fantastic quality and standard of workmanship.

Patrick said: “We are extremely proud of him.

“He has worked very hard to get to the standard that he is now, and he’s been passionate about engineering for so long.

“He is really pleased and now has a really good apprenticeship to look forward to starting in September.

“I just want to thank the teachers that have supported him, particularly Mr Dewet during his time at Saint John.

“There is no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him in engineering.”