ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly pupils at a Darlington school were presented with a green award yesterday afternoon by the town's MP.

Alan Milburn, Labour's new election chief, took a break from policy-making to visit Alderman Leach Primary School, in Leach Grove.

Children at the school have won one of Darlington Borough Council's Caring For Our Environment Awards for their regular litter picks in the school grounds.

A council spokeswoman said: "The pupils have been visited by the council's sustainable development officer and spent an afternoon picking litter and learning about the little changes they could make to improve their environment."