A campaign created by students to alert people to the risk of flooding on the east coast is to be turned into reality.

Organised by Waveney District Council and the Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Programme (LFRMP), this year's Children's Commissioner Takeover Challenge saw around 100 pupils compete for prizes on a day of innovation at the town's Orbis Centre.

Those who took part were tasked with creating a campaign which informed and educated people about flooding across a range of media platforms suitable for all ages.

The winning entry was created by Ormiston Denes Academy. As part of their prize, they will work alongside the LFRMP project team to turn their idea into reality.

Their ideas will be used to help communicate the project to residents until its completion in 2020.

Stephen Ardley, deputy leader of Waveney District Council, attended the challenge and said: 'The Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Project is one of the most important projects happening in Lowestoft at the moment.

'One of the challenges the project team faces is communicating with people of all ages in different ways to get the message home.

'This 'takeover challenge' is a fantastic idea, educating young people about important local issues while also boosting the scheme by welcoming a raft of exciting and interesting ideas about engaging with local audiences.'

As part of their campaign, the Ormiston Denes students came up with the idea of a cartoon character called the Waveney Wellington, who takes the form of a fun and eye-catching wellington boot and provides information for people in an engaging way.

Waveney MP Peter Aldous was among the judges and awarded prizes for other categories, including best individual team member and best team players.

He said: 'The standard of work produced by the schools was outstanding and it was a really interesting and informative day to be a part of.

'The schools had plenty of exciting ideas which will be taken forward, but they also showed a level of understanding that really impressed all the judges.'