CHILDREN have buried a time capsule in the walls of a new building society branch.

Pupils from Portobello Primary School in Birtley each wrote a letter to be sealed in the cylinder and placed in the walls of the new branch of Newcastle Building Society in High Street, Chester-le-Street.

The time capsule also includes Co-op tin, an 1863 penny, a Beamish Museum magazine and mementoes from the school including a class photograph.

Lee Metters, manager of the new branch which is due to open in September, said: “We have been part of the local community for a number of years now so when we decided to move to a better branch location we wanted to mark the occasion.

“Newcastle has worked with Portobello Primary School as part of our financial education programme so they were the first guys we thought of when devising the time capsule idea.

“The kids there are so passionate about everything they do and loved taking part in this”.