MORE than 150 people enjoyed fine French cuisine served up by college catering students to raise money for a school trip.

The banquet was held in the Oakroom Restaurant, at Darlington College of Technology, to help pay for a ski trip to France for youngsters with special needs.

Twenty six pupils from Beaumont Hill School, Darlington, and Westlands School, Thornaby, are hoping to travel to Les Arcs on March 22 for a week-long ski trip.

Each school needs to raise about £1,500 to pay for the break.

The college's head of hotel hospitality and catering, Peter Bell, said many pupils from Beaumont Hill went on to work in the catering industry or study at college.

"It's also a great exercise for our students, who made up the menu, priced and ordered the ingredients and talked to the suppliers," he said.

The three-course menu featured French onion soup, braised lamb in red wine sauce and baked Alaska with black cherry compote, all for £8 per head.