Scientists have announced the start of work on instruments that will be used in a new mission to Mars in 2018.

Academics from the University of Leicester are among a group of scientists working on the high-tech equipment for the ExoMars mission.

The project - Exobiology on Mars - is a European-led robotic mission to Mars, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Nasa. It is one of the key missions under the remit of the newly-formed UK Space Agency.

Part of ESA's Aurora programme for robotic exploration of the solar system, the mission will study the chemical, geological and possible biological environment on Mars in preparation for robotic missions and then human exploration.

The data gathered will also contribute to broader studies of exobiology - the search for life on other planets.

Scientists at the University of Leicester have announced the start of work, in collaboration with industry, on some of the advanced instruments to be used in the mission.

They will be involved in five instruments on board, including building the hardware for three of the instruments on the craft.

Professor Mark Sims, from the university, is leading the international team in constructing the Life Marker Chip, which aims to find organic molecules that could be associated with life, or organics that may have fallen with meteors on to the surface. He said: "ExoMars is a key mission in exploration of the planet Mars.

"It will attempt to gather samples from a depth one to two metres below the surface where they are protected from radiation and oxidants thought to exist on the surface - both of which would destroy/heavily degrade complex organic compounds."