THE plight of asylum seekers and refugees who flee their homeland is the inspiration behind a school arts competition.

Children at the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Primary School, in Billingham, have been invited to try to find the best way of depicting the ordeal of fleeing immigrants.

The competition has been organised by headteacher John Lyons, who has visited a number of war-ravaged countries and who recently taught in refugee camps in Burma.

Mr Lyons said: "The competition can be interpreted in whatever way the child wishes - it may be a poem, picture or essay, or it may be depicted by a model.

"There will be £15, £10 and £5 book tokens on offer for the best entries."

As part of Mr Lyons' efforts to ensure his pupils understand the plight of refugees, police have been visiting the school to talk about their role in integrating asylum seekers into the community.

Cleveland Police minorities officer PC Liz Chard said: "In many instances, the refugees see the police as yet another militant authority to be feared, as they are in some of the countries they have come from.

"We want them to feel comfortable about coming to the police if they do have problems.