A TEAM from Malvern Young Engineers picked up a host of prizes at the Young Enterprise Awards.

Nine teams of youngsters who created their own companies gave presentations at the finals of the South Worcestershire heat at The Chase on Wednesday.

The MYE team of seven collected three top awards and were put forward for the regional finals.

Their environmentally-friendly enterprise, Woodgoods, made turned wooden bowls and whistles from trees blown down in gales. They also recycled candles from wax donated by a local convent. They sold their products at markets, car boot sales and festivals.

MYE member Jack Guest said: "We've made more than £300 profit so far. Our products seem to sell really well at pagan festivals."

Woodgoods won the South Worcestershire Shield for best company and an achievement award from QinetiQ. Their financial director Aran Ford also picked up a financial innovation prize.

Retro, a company formed by nine pupils at The Chase, won the QinetiQ Cup for most innovative company with their personalised greetings cards, novelty torch key rings, music CDs and a retro computer games compendium.

Chairman of judges David Cornelius said standards had been "amazingly high". He described MYE as unique because they were the only non-school or college-based group.

Their leader, Judy Thomas, said they they were a creative bunch who enjoyed learning new skills and making things.

Retro managing director Frankie Pryse-Jones said the hardest thing had been deciding what their company should sell.

"We really wanted to make things ourselves and we wanted them to be different and unique," she said.

A team from Malvern Girls' College, called Crush, imported jewellery and silk scarfs from Thailand and Hong Kong.