THE headteachers of Yarm preparatory and early schools got well and truly plastered last week - all in a good cause.

Gillian Taylor and Wendy Young had their left arms put in plaster casts, then charged children to sign them as part of a fundraising drive for the Great North Air Ambulance.

Earlier this year the two heads accepted a challenge to raise £1,000 each for the air ambulance.

Mrs Young said: "Ian Wallace, who is an orthopaedic surgeon at the James Cook hospital, came into school to give a talk about being a surgeon. He dressed in his gown and mask and put a plaster cast on his son, William, who is in the first year of the early school.

"We thought it would be a good way to raise some money and we wanted to do a couple of fun events to round things off."

The pair visited the fracture clinic at the Middlesbrough hospital on Thursday of last week before returning to school to have the casts signed for 50p a time.

"Neither of us has ever broken a bone, so it was a completely new experience," added Mrs Young.