VOLUNTEERS were happy to get their hands dirty, and pay for the privilege, in a bid to help to conserve Durham Cathedral.

Durham was among a number of cathedrals that played host to a group of young people on a working holiday, carrying out conservation and preservation of the 900-year-old landmark.

The Cathedral Camps organisation is a national charity that has operated over recent decades, in-viting teams of volunteers, aged between 17 and 29, to help to preserve the country's cathedrals during the summer holiday.

Under the direction of clerk of works Bob Matthews, and working alongside expert conservators, this year's camp group helped to restore and clean some of the monuments and plaques in the cathedral's Chapel of Nine Altars.

They also cleaned the Prior Castell clock, one of the cathedral's few surviving wooden relics from Medieval times that were not burned for warmth by sanctuary seekers.

Project leader Jane Smith said others were involved in more mundane duties, including cleaning the roof and 'clearing the pigeon grime.'

But she said they performed their task with a smile, and a sense of pride, at helping to restore one of the country's architectural and heritage gems.