YOUNG people from nearly 40 County Durham schools were yesterday praised for telling tales as part of the international celebrations to mark Europe Day.

About 400 eight and nine-year-olds with their teachers visited Durham County Council's headquarters yesterday to take part in the event.

Children and staff were in costume as they focused on European fairytales and grappled with French and Russian languages.

The children enjoyed a continental breakfast and met the chairman of the county council, Alan Fenwick, and Euro MP Stephen Hughes.

The group then took over the council chamber to tell European fairytales in prose, mime and rhyme followed by activities ranging from gingerbread decoration and an illustration workshop to singing a European song and Russian drama.

"Each year, the county council marks Europe Day by inviting children from our primary schools to County Hall to take part in events which celebrate cultural diversity across our continent - and most importantly - to have fun,'' said Brian Stobie, the county council's international officer.

"Hopefully, by the end of the celebrations the children had a greater understanding of the wider Europe, as well as having had lots of fun and learned snippets of different languages.''