09 December 2008

Pupil power lights up Christmas
A village primary school has adopted an eco-friendly approach to lighting up its Christmas trees - pedal power.

Kirkcolm School near Stranraer in south west Scotland is taking part in a pilot project developed by inventor Antony Berretti from near Newton Stewart.

The children use recycled exercise bikes, a battery pack and inverter to create up to 150 hours of electricity.

The school hopes the project can teach pupils valuable lessons in maths, physics and the environment.

Mr Berretti came up with the idea after hearing a news report about the surge in electricity demand over the festive season in order to power Christmas lights.

He decided to use his own "garden shed technology" to come up with a solution.

He is no stranger to such unusual ventures having previously travelled from Calais to Brindisi and back in a vehicle running on vegetable oil.

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