An innovative student from a village south of Petersfield is in the final draw for a national design award after wowing judges with a lifesaving proposal.

Harry Wragg, a De Montford University student from Clanfield, is one of six finalists vying for the Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) award.

The plastics design competition is the longest running one of its kind for university undergraduates in the UK and Ireland.

It is supported by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and is sponsored by Covestro, a global supplier of premium polymers.

This year’s competition has a ‘Health and Wellbeing: a product for the self-care agenda’ with the finalists bringing their prototypes to a final judging session on May 9.

Harry impressed the judges with his CPR+ Aid device which enables people to apply the correct pressure in the right way when performing CPR.

Finalists were given time to explain the research behind their ideas and spoke about their selection of plastics, sustainability, how their product would work and other important considerations like manufacturing costs.

Chairman of judges, Richard Brown, said: “All our finalists had improved their products since submitting them for the preliminary judging round in April.

“It was also evident that the training course they had been given at Sumitomo Demag, as part of their prize, had influenced their thinking, particularly sharpening their focus on selection of plastic materials and method of manufacture.

Mr Brown added: “They had thought very carefully about the suitability of their products for their end users and as a result we believe a number of their products could have the potential to be commercialised.”

The results will be announced on June 20 with the winner receiving £1,000 and all finalists receiving supporting cash prizes and work placements with leading design and industry sponsors.