A primary school's efforts to keep its pupils fit and healthy has earned an award.

Bournmoor Primary School, near Chester-le-Street, has introduced a range of initiatives designed to keep its youngsters on an exercise and sensible eating track.

Among the first moves taken by the school was to provide free fruit for the infants section every morning.

Older children have been encouraged to take fruit in for their daily snacks and a water cooler has been installed in preference to sweet fizzy drinks.

All pupils are being persuaded to take five pieces of fresh fruit or vegetables each day and the school lunch menu now only offers fatty foods, such as chips, on a limited basis.

With a healthy diet on the menu the pupils are also enjoying taking part in some traditional schoolyard games such as skipping and hopscotch as well as playing with hoops and tops and testing their fitness on a specially installed climbing frame.

Headteacher Sheila Williams said that all the new initiatives had become outstanding successes and would be continued in the long term.

To mark its success the school was awarded the Healthy School Standards certificate from Durham and Darlington Health Authority.