PUPILS in 16 schools across Sedgefield are being urged to take old phone books into class to compete in a recycling challenge.

The educational and environmental campaign the Yellow Woods Challenge is organised by Yellow Pages and the Woodland Trust with Sedgefield Borough Council and the Butterwick Hospice.

Through Kirk the recycling mascot, children, families and friends are being encouraged to hand in old directories for reprocessing into cardboard boxes by Spennymoor company Foreman Recycling.

Schools collecting the most directories per pupil win cash prizes, with matched cash going to the Woodland Trust to support its new planting campaign Tree For All enabling schools to plant native tree saplings in their grounds.

Ruth Clayton, the borough's waste management officer, said: "This is the fifth year of the Yellow Pages scheme. We hope it is something teachers, parents and pupils all look forward to in the school calendar.

"It not only keeps old directories out of landfill sites, but also helps deliver the recycling message to schools."

Residents who do not have a child at school can recycle their Yellow Pages at any of the borough's paper banks.