THE schoolgirl winner of a competition to design a new clock for the University of Derby has been to see it in production.

Amy Louise White beat more than 500 other entrants with her design for a clock to grace the towers at the university's Kedleston Road campus.

When she entered the competition, Amy was in her final year at Lawn Primary School, Allestree, and is now at Chellaston School.

She was invited to Smith of Derby in Alfreton Road with four friends and her school tutor, Chris Glover, to see how the clock's production was progressing.

They saw the 4.2m metal crescent-shaped frame, which forms the dial of the clock, the numerals 0 and 12 and the single hand which will show the time.

The group was also given a tour of the factory by Smith of Derby managing director Bob Betts.

He said: "The standard of entries was outstanding and we had to consider practicality alongside the budget. Amy's design provides the nucleus of the clock."

The top four entries had aspects of their ideas incorporated into the final clock design and their names will be engraved on its perimeter.

The runners-up were: Tom Cooper, Swanwick Hall School; Jacob Heald, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Ashbourne; and Billy King, Curzon C of E Primary School, Quarndon.

Once complete, the large-scale clock will go on one of the towers of the University's Kedleston Road site and be visible for miles around. It should be unveiled on the campus in the next few weeks.

The towers, part of Derby's cityscape since the 1960s, are already changing as part of a £13.5m transformation, with new windows and cladding.