A SCHOOLGIRL from Thornton-le-Moor, Laura MacArthur, spent a day as a reporter with the Darlington & Stockton Times this week.

Her mother bid for the opportunity at an auction of promises which is held every year at the Allertonshire School in Northallerton. The event raised £4,600 and this money will be spent buying equipment for the school.

Laura, 15, hopes to pursue a career in the media and wanted to experience a day as a reporter. She intends to study media, drama, English language and psychology at A-level and then go on to university.

On arrival at the D&S Times Darlington office, she was introduced to the staff then escorted to the editor's office for her first assignment which was to look through last week's edition of the D&S Times and, in the cause of market research, indicate which reports she found most interesting and those which she found less so.

"I found this challenging as there was a lot to look at and there were items, like the business news, which didn't interest me at all," she said.

Later, Laura compiled this report and helped the editor place the report on the page and write the headline. Before the end of the day she was also given a tour of the building, visiting the other departments.

Laura said: "The staff have been very welcoming and I would like to thank the D&S for a really enjoyable experience."