COOKS hope to serve up a tasty treat to help the young victims of the Asian tsunami.

Durham County Council's catering workers will take part in the international aid organisation Unicef's Unichef day on Monday, February 7 along with restaurants up and down the country.

As well as feeding staff at County Hall in Durham, the authority's headquarters, the caterers also have the contract to serve police stations throughout the county.

On the day, they will be cooking special meals and donating a quarter of the price to Unicef.

About 80 staff at 15 sites will be taking part, each cooking something different for the appeal.

They hope to raise between £2,000 and £3,000 for the young survivors of the disaster.

Mike Elsom, catering operations manager said: "We originally started off with just a curry lunch for staff at County Hall on February 7 but all our units, involving around 80 staff, wanted to join in.''

"They will be serving a range of food from curry to cookies, all day breakfasts to Chinese meals, for county council and Durham Constabulary staff to enjoy, while at the same time contributing to the tsunami appeal.

"We take part in the Big Breakfast every year for Cancer Research, and usually raise between £2,000 and £3,000, so we're hoping to do the same with this event, which is supported by restaurants throughout the country.''

Unicef estimates that more than 50,000 children died in the Boxing Day disaster and that about five million more have been affected by losing their food, water and homes.