A wind-powered primary school in Durham has received a cash boost from the town's Prince Bishops Shopping Centre.

Its recently launched community fund has given a donation of £250 to Cassop Primary School towards the development of an environmental sustainability centre.

The centre allows schools, community groups, colleges and universities to visit and gain knowledge about renewable energy.

The school will use the money to buy equipment to make and test miniature solar photovoltaic cells that show how power is generated.

Headteacher Jim McManners said: "I would like to thank Prince Bishops for their kind generosity. We still have a long way to go to raise the money we need to fully equip our sustainability centre.

"We are not funded except through our own efforts. We are therefore particularly grateful for the support of local businesses."

Cassop Primary School is a small rural village primary school between the villages of Cassop and Quarrington Hill.

The school is unique in that it uses a 50kw wind turbine and biomass boiler for its main energy supply.

It is also heated using re- cycled waste wood and biomass willow and is planning to produce hot water and additional electricity from solar panels.