THE race to find Britain's next top scientists and engineers sped into Hereford this week when the land speed record project came to town.

Pupilsfrom schools across the county saw a life-sized replica of the Bloodhound car which will spearhead the next attempt to smash the land sped record - currently held by Britain, and by the same engineering team.

"It's about finding our next generation of scientists and engineers," said Jo Finch, from the Bloodhound education project.

"We have competition from other countries bidding to take that record, but it's about more than just that - it's about supporting the teaching of STEM subjects in schools."

During day-long visits to the Herefordshire Training Group, which hosted the workshops in a joint initiative with Wigmore Teaching School Alliance, pupils worked on problem solving, 3D printing and got to driving a computer simulator of the Bloodhound.

The current record is 743 mph, and the aim is to set a record of 1,000 mph.