CHILDREN from a primary school took to the stage this week to perform their own Christmas plays which will pay for a professional pantomime early in the New Year.

Children at Bournmoor Primary School, near Chester-le-Street, invited parents and friends to watch them perform two plays written for them.

The infants group performed A Very Special Present and the older children staged A Victorian Christmas.

Donations will go towards the costs of staging Little Red Riding Hood, by professional theatre company Bruvvers, to welcome children back on the first day of term in the New Year.