THREE students are helping residents in Darlington work towards a greener future by creating an environmental information pack.

Zoe Davies, Angela Hutchinson and Natalie Wagstaff, all 18, of Darlington, devised the pack as part of the borough council's Local Agenda 21 initiative.

The pack contains information on water, energy, travel, waste, recycling, gardening and shopping. The youngsters were asked to help out because the council wanted the guide to be used by people of all ages.

It will be available to more than 100,000 residents in the area by the end of the year, thanks to funding of £3,000 from the County Durham Environmental Trust (CDENT).

The three A-level students spent more than 100 hours working on the project as part of the Millennium Volunteers scheme run by Northallerton College.

Zoe said: "The council wanted a simple and readable pack and gave us a flexible brief to work from.

"We are all interested in the environment and were really keen to make a contribution by getting involved with Local Agenda 21."

John Wearmouth, chairman of CDENT, is confident that the new pack will appeal to residents: "It is good to see publications like this prepared by young people. The borough council is to be congratulated on this initiative."