SCHOOLCHILDREN showed plenty of bottle when they took part in a gardening project in the torrential rain.

Youngsters at Tudhoe Colliery Primary School, near Spennymoor, County Durham are taking part in a project to teach them about nature, the environment and healthy living.

To mark World Environment Day last Friday, children recycled 1,500 plastic bottles they collected by using them to build an environmentally-friendly greenhouse.

They cut the bottoms off the bottles and placed them on canes, which were lined up to create walls around a wooden frame.

The 145 pupils at the school will get a chance to work in the greenhouse growing fruit and vegetables.

Headteacher Jim Smith said: “Children will be able to grow produce to use in the kitchen. They will have the satisfaction and pride of planting a seed, tending to it, watching it grow, then eating it.

“They will learn the science of plants, and regularly try new, fresh and healthy foods they have grown themselves.

“The way we’ve built the greenhouse also gets across the message of trying to be responsible for the environment, reusing materials, rather than throwing them away.

“Apart from those benefits, they are also really enjoying themselves.”

The greenhouse project came at the end of a packed week for pupils.

Some had enjoyed an outwardbounds trip to Wensleydale, and others took part in activities at school including a visit by crime scene investigators, a kite workshop and a Harry Potter-themed day.