MUD pies are now on the menu at a Teesside primary school.

Children at Stockton's Fairfield Primary School are getting their hands dirty following the installation of a mud kitchen.

The kitchen, complete with sinks and kitchen utensils, allows youngsters to play with mud while "expanding their imagination and enhancing their creativity", according to teaching assistant Karen Howard who said: "The children are so overwhelmed by it, they're really dying to get mucky."

Joinery apprentices from Darlington College built the kitchen, based on a sketch created by Lisa Bowerbank, curricular manager of construction at the college.

The school's head, Andy Ruffell, said he was thrilled by the college's donation, adding: "It's great for our pupils, it allows them to get muddy and be children - it's really important.

"The fact that it has been made for us and donated is great as school budgets are being cut and donations mean we can spend money on other things for the children."