BLIND and partially-sighted pupils at a Durham school are to benefit from a former mayor's fundraising.

During her year in office Coun Margaret Adair raised about £15,000 for Belmont's infant, junior and comprehensive schools, which educate visually-impaired youngsters in the mainstream.

The infants school is using £5,000 to create a sensory garden.

Head Marguerite Grey said: "There will be a pathway which will meander past fragrant plants, an outdoor classroom, an area for seating for the children and tall glasses will make a pretty noise when the wind blows.

"There will be large chime bars and the path with have different textures. There will also be a mini-maze created out logs and a tactile 3-D trellis with wooden animal shapes on it, particularly with the visually-impaired children in mind.''

Work started last weekend, parent volunteers working alongside Mick Feehan and Paul Monaghan, of Killingworth-based Landscape Management Services, who are donating their Saturdays to the project.

Mrs Grey said she was delighted with the donation from the Mayor's Appeal. "It is brilliant because that amount of money is hard to find from the school's budget.''

The school hopes to have the project completed in the next week or so and plans to have a formal opening later in the year.