STAR Wars actor David Prowse has helped to officially launch a new driving qualification.

The Darth Vader actor and former bodybuilder – who was also the face of the Green Cross Code Man in the 1970s – launched the UK's first BTEC qualification in Driving and Driver Education at Nailsea School.

The new course has been developed by Driving Force Training, a local driver training company, in association with the school.

Statistics show that being involved in a car crash is the number one cause of death among young people and the school hopes the course will give students the skills to be safe as a driver or as a passenger.

Year 12 and 13 students are being offered the chance of completing the BTEC course, which includes 30 hours of practical learning in a car leading to the DSA Driving Theory Test.

Ian Littlefield, training director for Driving Force Training, has written the course with fellow director Mike Williams and Nailsea's assistant head of sixth form, Phil Duncan.

Their aim was to address the flaws in the current system of learning to drive as well as examining the pupil's fundamental beliefs about driving and their awareness of the dangers.

Mr Williams said: "The risk of a crash for 17 to 20-year-olds increases by 45 per cent with every passenger on board, and shockingly the leading cause of death among teenage girls in the UK is as passengers in cars driven by teenage boys."