LITTLEDEAN computer buff Lewis Bell and three fellow students at Bristol University have won first prize in a European Space Agency project in Rome.

The four man ‘Limoncello’ team were chosen from thousands of hopefuls from across Europe and Canada to take part in the Agency’s 2017 ‘App Camp’.

The camp was held at the agency’s Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati near Rome to design apps for phones, using earth observation data from the ESA’s ‘Copernicus’ Satellite.

Lewis and his three teammates, Charlie Harding, Brendan Warwick and Jay Lees were the youngest and least experienced of the six teams taking part.

But they still managed to win first prize – scooping 2,500 Euros between them.

There is also the prospect of funding support from the European Space Agency’s partners to bring their app to the market if they wish.

Their winning AiR app uses satellite imagery to give flight travellers an interactive, bird’s-eye view of their route.

It displays an interactive projection of the world’s surface to airborne travellers from Copernicus Sentinel satellite imagery, letting them see information about the cities and landmarks they pass over during their flight, without the disruptions of clouds or the plane getting in the way.

Lewis said: “The aim is to relieve passengers from flight boredom.”