AS people head to the polls today to cast their votes - pupils from a Bridport school have taken part in a mock election, organised by year nine students.

Pupils at the Sir John Colfox Academy cast their votes for four candidates on Tuesday - learning about the political election process.

The entire election was organised by pupils - including campaigning, political manifestos, handing out ballot papers and counting the votes.

The four parties, The Vision Party, The Transcend Party, The Progress Party and the MLD Party were based on the values of four of the main parties contesting today's general election. Pupils voted in favour of Brian Robertshaw of The Transcend Party - reflecting the values of the Conservatives.

Carly Ellis, teacher at the Sir John Colfox School, said: "It was part of a project on the Magna Carta and democracy that really sparked the ideas for the pupils.

"The group decided they wanted to run an election and they were really enthusiastic about making the rest of the school aware of how an election works - taking them through the entire process.

"The candidates used different tactics in campaigning. Some of them presented themselves at assemblies, while others wanted to target different form groups - so we had an interesting mix of approaches.

"All those who were standing were extremely professional and they should be very proud of themselves. They have also had to explain some of the policies in their manifesto to some of the younger pupils, so they have really had to think very hard about everything they have done."

School staff believe it is important for pupils to be interested in politics and elections - even if it is some time before they can legally cast their votes.

Paul Middleton, deputy head of the Sir John Colfox Academy, said: "I think it's really important for these pupils to be interested in the process form such an early age.

"The pupils have all organised it all by themselves, and I think it's really fantastic that they have taken it upon themselves to go through each step of the election."

In second place behind the Transcend Party was Dahlia Twigger of the MLP Party - representing the Green Party. Toby Marsh from The Progress Party took third place, representing the Liberal Democrats - while Megan Furner of The Vision Party came fourth, representing the Labour Party.