YOUNGSTERS have been taking a pride in their environment by using discarded rubbish to create artwork.

Children from Cockton Hill Infants, in Bishop Auckland, have taken Wear Valley District Council's Pride campaign to heart and have spent weeks looking into the problems of littering and dog fouling.

The reception class children turned something ugly into something beautiful by making flowers from litter such as drink cans and crisp packets.

Children from year one examined why people do not use litter bins and came up with a project that would encourage more people to use them.

Year two pupils devised ideas about how they could take pride in Wear Valley - and designed posters to get the message across.

Joanne Morley, Pride campaign officer, said: "The children were extremely responsive to how their local environment can be spoiled by the likes of litter and dog fouling, and produced some thought provoking work.''

Headteacher John Redman said, 'This project has been very successful, with the children carefully looking at their own environment to consider what it should be like.

"As part of the community, we should be proud of our area and we should share this pride."