TEENS were coached by spin doctor Alastair Campbell as part of a mission to cut their school’s food miles.

Ten Commonweal School students met Tony Blair’s former spokesman and former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq after winning a competition.

The 11 to 14-year-olds won £1,000 in the Npower Climate Cops SOS competition after working out how to use more locally-produced food in the Old Town school’s cooking lessons and canteen.

Now the students have to make their plans a reality and are competing against other students for a £20,000 grand prize.

They joined the other finalists in London at London’s Globe Theatre where Mr Campbell commented on their plans.

Commonweal head of geography Andrea Preston helped guide the students’ project along with staff member Kirsty Hunt.

Miss Preston said: “Alastair Campbell was really nice. I always wondered what he would be like.

“He gave a speech and talked to the students about what it is like to run a campaign. It is fantastic for the students and has given them a lot of confidence.

“They have some really fantastic ideas and as long as they can get people on board it should work.”

The pupils now plan to lobby companies and members of the community to help buy local produce.

They have to make a film and record every step of their journey, and their efforts will be evaluated in March. Volker Beckers, chief executive of RWE Npower, said: “The enthusiasm and dedication of teenagers at Commonweal should be commended and, with such a positive and proactive attitude, it’s clear they’ll get the support they deserve from the Swindon community.

“Npower will do all it can to help the Commonweal students in their mission to reduce food miles in the local community by getting Swindon to buy local.

“The young people have a challenging but highly rewarding few months ahead of them as they start the project.

“I look forward to seeing all of the Climate Cops SOS projects develop over the coming months; the hard work of these teenagers will make a real difference to the environment, so they are setting an example for us all.”