THIRTY Cubs and Beavers will be keeping a keen eye on their feathered friends this summer after a Saturday morning woodworking workshop.

Members of the 2nd Bishop Auckland Scouts made bird nesting boxes with the help of Bishop Auckland College staff.

They have been asked to hang them in their gardens and record which birds use them.

The completed project, which is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, will earn them conservation badges.

Tutors Robin Laycock and Stephen Yorke, with head of department Kate Simpson, led the workshop session, which was funded by a £500 grant from Wear Valley District Council's Local Agenda 21 fund.

Group Scout leader Gary Ingham said: "It was marvellous. The boys are really enthusiastic about the project."

The scouts celebrate their tenth anniversary at their Kingsway headquarters at the end of April and are raising money to renovate the hall.

Mr Ingham said: "It is great that the community supports us because we are always looking for money to run the group.

"It costs us £5,000 a year just to keep the doors open and it is a lot of money to find. But it is worth it, because when you see the pleasure on their faces on a day like this it is great."

The RSPB has launched a new group for supporters in south Durham. It meets in the Dolphin Centre from 7pm to 9pm on the third Wednesday every month.