With an aerodynamic chassis and sleek styling, it could almost be mistaken for a Formula One prototype.

But this vehicle, which has just returned from an endurance race in France, was designed and built by Sussex school pupils.

The team, from Our Lady of Sion School, Worthing, was one of six from Sussex to compete in the contest held in Dieppe.

Although Spirit of the South II did not win the six-hour endurance race on the town's main coast road, the team did pick up the award for most innovative vehicle.

Head of design technology, Phillip Dudson, said: "It was very much like Le Mans, except it was for six hours instead of 24.

"There were something like 30 cars there, all different. Some were made of cardboard and were fast and flimsy but we wanted to make something similar to a realistic car.

"All the teams had been given an identical 24 volt electric motor and two batteries and were given some instructions not to make the car above a certain size.

"Ours was basically an aluminium construction. It was designed by pupils and took about three months to build."

Mr Dudson travelled to France with a team of six drivers and six mechanics. The drivers were each behind the wheel for about an hour trying to clock up the greatest distance possible in the time limit.

The car survived the whole six hours, although the pit crew were needed on occasions to change wheels and replace the battery.

The race itself was won by one of 15 schools competing from Normandy, with the winners completing about 300 miles. Uckfield Community College finished a creditable third.

The competition was developed by Sussex Enterprise to encourage pre-GCSE pupils to consider engineering as a career.

This was its third year but the first Anglo-French contest and was backed by money from the European Commission.

Kathy Vuillaume, European affairs manager at Sussex Enterprise, said: "For this year's event we wanted to encourage integration and overcome language barriers by mixing the French and English teams together.

"I think it made the event that much more rewarding and a great success.

"Everyone is very keen for it to continue and the sheer enthusiasm, creativity and innovation that we have seen from schools on both sides of the channel has been overwhelming."