SMART cards that speed up school lunchtime queues are being used at North-East schools.

Credit card-sized cards, which use radio frequency identification technology, have been given to all 900 pupils at Eston Park School, Eston, near Middlesbrough.

The main benefit of the cards is that they speed up meal times because cash handling is no longer necessary.

Pupils are able to put credit against their name, using cash machines near the school hall, with their details held on a central computer.

Cards to allow book borrowing at the school's library are expected to be introduced next month.

Pupils at Rye Hills, at Redcar, Huntcliff, at Saltburn and Gillbrook, at South Bank also use the smart cards, but Eston Park will be the first to use the cards for book borrowing.

The council's education catering manager, Kath Slingsby, said: "We believe it can help in a number of ways - there'll be no cash handling to delay a queue and the stigma of anyone receiving free school meals will disappear, plus we've got the added bonus of using it for the library service."

Assistant headteacher Mike Bowcock said: "We see this as a very useful aid to us."

The system has been developed by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and its strategic partner, Liberata, funded by government grants.