PRIMARY school children were last night given prizes for using their artistic talents to help an anti-arson campaign.

More than 200 children from ten primary schools across the Stockton area sent in posters highlighting the dangers of arson for a competition.

Last night, many of the children were presented with prizes for winning their categories by Cleveland Fire Brigade's director of operations, Mark Whelan.

Speaking before the ceremony at the William Newton Education Centre, in Norton, near Stockton, Maureen Hall, the community safety officer for Teesside probation service, said: "Educating children as to the dangers of setting fires is important, and we are delighted that so many schools took part."

The competition is part of a larger ongoing educational campaign led by Safer Stockton Partnership's multi-agency Arson Reduction Team