CHILDREN whose school was destroyed by arsonists have won an award for taking part in a junior Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Twenty-three pupils at Middleton St George Primary, near Darlington, joined the initiative, attending weekly meetings, after their school was set on fire by teenagers in February last year.

The youngsters' commitment so impressed PC Clare Addison, from the town's Community Safety Partnership, she nominated them for a Shrievalty Award, funded by the High Sheriff of Durham.

Two of the group, ten-year-olds Angela Quick and Andrew Hunt, joined dozens of other young people from across County Durham at Durham Castle yesterday to receive the accolade.

Angela said: "After the fire, we just wanted to do something to help the school and the local community."

Teaching assistant and junior Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Carol Hunt, who is Andrew's mother, said: "The children have been consistent in coming to the meetings and I felt very proud of them today.

"The scheme is good because the kids report back to PC Addison if they have seen anything around the village."

Two 14-year-old boys were locked up last summer for the arson attack, which caused £356,000 worth of damage to the Grade II-listed building.

Other youngsters receiving awards were:

* James Stephenson, James Ingram and Holly Cullen, for helping police to apprehend a burglar in Bishop Auckland.

* Laura Smith, 15, from Belmont Comprehensive School, Durham, who is blind and suffers from juvenile arthritis, for her work with Durham Gala Theatre stage school.

* Karl Hall, nine, from Coxhoe, near Durham City, for his efforts on behalf of his mother, who has multiple sclerosis.

* Diabetes sufferer Charlotte Smith, 11, from Pity Me, also near Durham City, for looking after her mother, who also has diabetes and heart disease, and her sister, who has learning difficulties.

* Eight teenagers from the Gilesgate Area Task Group, near Durhma City, for organising leisure activities for other young people.

* Rebecca Lee, 16, from Wolsingham, Weardale, for writing regular features in the Weardale Gazette on issues affecting youngsters.

* A dozen youngsters, known as Lads on Cue, for working on projects with Gilesgate Community Association.

* David Gash, 16, for his work as a volunteer at the Ferryhill Ladder Centre.

* Natasha Allen and Mark Atherton, for an anti-social behaviour video put together by Eastbourne Youth Centre, in Darlington.