If you get really bored during university lectures then beware - a student has designed a tool to alert teachers when concentration is dropping.

Jade Gidney, from Woodford Green, has created 'Cadence', which measures the amount of fidgeting that goes on in a lecture hall.

The system works by giving each student a hand-held device at the start of the lecture and if they become distracted, they will play with.

A display seen by the lecturer indicates the collective fidgeting in the room.

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The 21-year-old said: "I have always been in to making things, from a young age. I have never been into science, maths or languages.

"I have been thinking about how my device could be used in special needs schools.

"You know when you imagine something being somewhere? That's where I imagined my device being when I was designing it."

She deisgned the gadget as part of her final year project at the University of Sussex.

She credits her success to Ms Yardley, her textiles teacher at Forest School in Walthamstow, and her design teacher, Mr Watson.

She hopes it could be applied to other circumstancs, too.

"The technology could also be used in waiting rooms," she added.

"If you have a really a nervous patients going into the dentists, they can roll the ball to show the receptionist how nervous they are and they can provide support."

She added: "A lot of people think, 'I don't want to talk about my designs because people might steal it'.

"But the more people you talk to the more inspiration you get."