A BETTING shop has given £1,000 to a charity that feeds children every morning and gets them to school on time.

Ladbrokes Betting Shop, in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, handed over the cheque to the Dene Valley Community Partnership.

Partnership chairwoman Margaret Ingledew, 58, from Coundon Grange, said: "The money will be used to transport the children from the breakfast table to the two primary schools in the Dene Valley.

"The sponsorship we get from Ladbrokes is great because it makes sure we can stay up and running and provide the children in the Dene Valley with a good breakfast before school."

The partnership caters for children from Eldon Lane and Dene Valley Primary Schools.

Every morning, its One Stop Shop is open to the children before school for a hearty breakfast of toast, cereals or beans on toast for 30 pence and then a bus takes them to school. Play and parent officer, Clare Lee, said: "We have had reports from headteachers that since we started the scheme, children have been more attentive at school and there have been less truancies."