THE Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, will only have a short time to enjoy a parting gift made by school students.

The pupils at Parkside Comprehensive School, in Willington, marked the bishop's retirement at the end of the month by presenting him with a wooden bench for the grounds of his official residence, Auckland Castle.

Accepting the two-metre seat from Bishop Auckland MP Derek Foster was one of his last official engagements before Bishop Turnbull is replaced by Canon Tom Wright.

Year ten and 11 students spent 12 weeks making the gift in the joinery workshops at Bishop Auckland College.

They are all members of a Children's Garden project at the school, and have constructed seven other benches for a plot they are transforming at the Rosedale and Victoria Allotments, in Willington, with the help of grants from the Millennium Fund, Groundwork and the Allotment Association.

The Bishop said: "The students have done a wonderful job and I hope that they will use it themselves and in years to come bring their wives and children here and tell them about the work they did. It is a great addition to the grounds."