NURSERY youngsters were jumping for joy when they heard they were taking part in a national competition.

They got to spend the afternoon in their outdoor play area smashing and squashing cartons.

The Ridgeway Day Nursery in Richmond joined forces with the district council to find the most unusual way of squashing cartons.

The authority is taking part in the Tetra Pak competition to boost recycling of drinks cartons by encouraging people to squash cartons before they are placed in recycling bins.

According to tests three times more cartons could be fitted into bring banks if they were all squashed flat first.

Nursery manager Isobel Hardy said: "We used as many recycled materials as we could when we created our outdoor play area and we also have a compost heap.

"The pre-school children are really enjoying the topic of recycling and we had lots of fun coming up with ideas on how to crush the cartons."

To enter the competition send a video clip of your carton squashing antics to www.howdoyousquashyours.co.uk by November 1.