THREE children who died have been remembered by fellow pupils with a memorial garden.

Teenagers attending Blakeston School, Stockton, have built a garden dedicated to the memory of Ian Magor, who died of cancer, Lilly Brown, who died of a drugs overdose, and David Steel, who drowned in the River Tees.

School spokeswoman Mavis Fifield said "The young people wanted to create an area which was useable for the whole school and would pay tribute to their friends at the same time.

"Really, the completion of the work on the garden is not the end, it is the beginning.

"Now all of the young people here at Blakeston can use it as a tool to help them study and somewhere for them to come to relax."

Mrs Fifield is advisor to the 16 members of the secondary school's xl group, which worked on the project, supported by the Prince's Trust.

She said: "We used the Prince's Trust business-finder on their website to find a landscape gardener to help us with the work.''

It came up with 25-year-old Mark Brookes, from Stockton, who started his landscape design and construction business three months ago with help and support from The Prince's Trust.

Mrs Fifield said: "Mark has been a huge help to us and has worked really hard over and above the time he has been paid for to help us create such a wonderful space."

Mr Brookes and his team of 14 and 15-year-old student helpers transformed a piece of derelict land behind a school building into a tranquil area with plants, a water feature and a picnic bench.

Mr Brookes said: "I did not know much about the Prince's Trust until I went to Business Link and they suggested that the trust might be able to help me get my business off the ground.''

The xl programme is a five-term personal development programme, run in schools to support disaffected and under-achieving young people. As part of the scheme, the group had to complete a project of their choice that would benefit their community.