AWARD winners will be rubbing shoulders with royalty on Friday.

Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, will be at the Leigh Turnpike to present 43 bronze certificates to young people and adults for the new Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA).

iDEA is a digital and enterprise version of the Duke of Edinburgh award which can be accessed for free with Wigan Council being the first to roll out the programme.

The silver iDEA award will be available next year and the gold award can be won in 2019.

Lesley O’Halloran, assistant director for customer services at the council, said: “We are extremely pleased with how the programme has been received in Wigan borough.

“It is a privilege to have the Duke of York come along on Friday to make the celebration even more special for our residents.

"There has been a great amount of take-up across all ages and the feedback we have received has been phenomenal.

“Each badge covers a wide range of topics from cyber security and animation to coding and there is no pressure to complete a topic in a specific time limit so it really is flexible and realistic for a variety of ages and lifestyles."

The programme can be done in groups, as a family or individually from a tablet, phone or computer.

Everyone who takes part in iDEA will also be given a Digital badge which counts towards the bronze award.

For more information about the programme visit idea.org.uk.