THE votes have been counted at the mock election designed for school pupils at Roseberry Comprehensive, Pelton.

Three sixth formers at the school near Chester-le-Street stood in the mock election purporting to represent the seat from which veteran Durham North Labour MP Giles Radice will stand down on June 7.

The result made dismal reading for the Tories who came in third in the school election - even though they managed to scrape second place in the real 1997 general election. But Labour could only manage a much smaller percentage of the overall vote compared to the real election.

Sixth former Mark Heckels won the school election for Labour with 257 votes, Richard Garthwaite came in second for the Liberal Democrats with 134 and Louise Redshaw came in third for the Tories on 111. In the real 1997 election Labour secured 33,142, the Tories 6,843 and the Lib Dems 5,225.

Head of Sixth Form at the school, Lester Crawford, said the real-life prospective parliamentary candidates - Kevan Jones for Labour, Carole Filed for the Lib Dems and Matthew Palmer for the Conservatives - came to the school to advise the candidates in what was an 'intense campaign.'

He said: "The presence of the three national election candidates added atmosphere."