IT might have taken five weeks to make, but in the end Sweeney Todd wasn't quite able to stick with the terrifying competition on Robot Wars.

The robot, build by engineers Sean Cleary, Laurence De Bruxelles, Jon Elmer and Dominique Andreson, took part in Sunday's episode of the hit BBC show but sadly was unable to go all the way.

Despite the best efforts of the quartet, all from the Science and Technology Facilities Council in Didcot, their creation fell at the first round stage after being beaten by other entrants.

The group had faced an uphill battle to get their bot ready after starting work just a few weeks before the programme which sees homemade robots battle it out was filmed and while they were not successful, everyone had a good time.

Speaking after the show Mr Elmer, 23, said: "We were really chuffed that we managed to get something together in those five weeks.

"We were afraid that the other teams might be a clique and we might be an outsider having never done this kind of thing before, but everyone was really friendly."

Their creation included grinder spinners which could cut through steel and concrete, with Mecanum wheels to allow it to travel sideways as well as forwards and backwards.

Mr Elmer said: "The robot wasn't as fast as we had hoped in the end. The movement was still there but it could have been heavier.

"The other robots were phenomenally strong, if we were against a different group then it might have been better.

"It was exciting being in the middle. We knew we had to be aggressive and it was really fun.

"We knew the robot wasn't going home in one piece, we had to throw away a lot of the armour but took some of it home."

The team named the machine after the fictional barber, also known for using a blade as a choice of weapon.

The popular robot fighting series – hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon – returned to screens last month following its success in the late 1990s.

It is not the first time this series an Oxford team has taken part in the show.

The Terrorhurtz team, made up of pair John Reid and Nick Lynch, made it through the first round stage of the first show but lost in a head-to-head battle.

Appearing on this Sunday's show will be family team Gabriel, from Grove, featuring father Craig Colliass and sons Zack, Mark and Toby.

The show starts at 8pm.