Six teams of Exmouth Community College students vied for verbal supremacy at the Rotary Club’s Youth Speaks contest.

The competition, held last Wednesday, saw five teams of 11 to 13-year-olds tackle such diverse topics of debate as gender discrimination, dog mess, restaurant rip-offs and lousy lunch breaks.

Meanwhile, two teams of 14 to 17-year-olds got to grips with the difficult subjects of human cloning, the NHS and drug testing.

District governor Graham Smith and Rotary national president John Minhinick, who had travelled down from Edinburgh, joined the event, which was watched by an audience of students, parents, staff and members of the Rotary.

Each team of three consisted of a chairman, speaker and proposer of the vote of thanks.

The winners in the intermediate age group were: Joseph Rockey (chairman), Chelsea Collins (speaker), and Maisy Farr (vote of thanks). The topic under discussion was “lousy lunch breaks”.

In the senior age group, the winners were: Emily Tregale (chairman), Phoebe Holman (speaker), and Daisy Hockings-Thompson (vote of thanks). Their topic was “the NHS and drug testing”.

The two winning teams will go on to compete at the district contest in March and, if successful, continue to national level.