Getting their hands dirty would once have horrified the polished girls at one of the country's most famous independent schools.

However, for the 14 sixth-formers from Roedean who have recently rebuilt a classic car as part of their motor mechanics study, it is just part of the curriculum.

As part of the course, the girls at the £19,000-a-year boarding school use welding torches, angle grinders and oil cans.

They have become accustomed to spending Friday afternoons in the school's new engineering workshop and they are proud of their achievement.

Physics technician Chris White, who teaches the course, said: "Gradually we have been rebuilding the front end of a 1964 Vauxhall Viva HA. It had been in a smash and was a complete write off.

"It still needs a set of carpets and some extra bits done to it but it now runs. On Friday night we gave it a run. All the girls with licences had a chance to drive it.

"It gives the girls engineering experience and broadens their horizons. It really helps those doing science A-level.

"Some of the girls have never used tools before and do not like it but others get straight into it.

"They are all going to buy a car at some point in their lives and it is useful to know what to look for if something goes wrong.

"One of the girls is from a remote river village in Alaska where there are no roads. When she is there, if she breaks down she has to be able to know what to do.

"You might not expect Roedean girls to get chipped nails and dirty hands but this is not the case. Quite a lot want to get involved. We normally have more wanting to do it than we can take on.

"The girls who come here now want something different from what the old school used to offer."

Roedean was founded in 1885 by a group of sisters called Penelope, Millicent and Dorothy Lawrence.

It is famous for turning out the likes of actress Sarah Miles, Tory peer Baroness Chalker and Philippa Tattersall, who recently became the first woman to qualify as a Royal Marine commando.

The Vauxhall Viva HA project is not the school's first connection to mechanics. In 1988, pupils featured on Blue Peter after creating an environmentally-friendly car from a Reliant Rebel and a milk float.

The motor mechanics course is a sixth-form option which runs alongside A-levels.

The school is considering entering the car in classic car shows or organising an event at the school to celebrate.