Two women have received £7,850 to pay tribute to the Aycliffe Angels and celebrate their role during the Second World War.

The Big Lottery Fund has donated the money to Lucy Thompson and Ann Symons, both from Coundon, County Durham, to help trace Aycliffe Angels and put on Remembrance Day activities.

Mrs Thompson and Mrs Symons received the money from the Home Front Recall lottery fund, which advertised individual grants in the Northern Echo in November.

Mrs Symons, 62, said: "There are so many people in this area who contributed to the war, we want to show them that they haven't been forgotten."

The women will put on a tea-party and dance with wartime songs, at the Welfare Hall, in Leeholme, near Coundon, on Saturday, August 20, five days after Victory Against Japan Day.

In November, they will put the remaining grant money towards the Remembrance event at the Royal Albert Hall and Cenotaph in London, paying for the Angels to attend.

They are seeking women who lived in the Coundon and Leeholme area and who worked at the Aycliffe and Heighington Ordnance factories from 1939 to 1945.

The search is also on for people who were in the Home Guard, Bevan Boys at Leasing Thorne Colliery, Land Army girls, ex-servicemen and women and anyone who was an evacuee.

For details, contact Mrs Thompson on (01388) 662925 or Mrs Symons on (01388) 665587.