PUPILS from four schools have been given the chance to document the development of a railway village, thanks to a £15,000 initiative.

With the help of artists, the children will use photography, film and animation to capture the progress of the £10m Shildon Railway Village.

The project, called Photo Positive, aims to form a relationship between the schools and the museum.

Museum manager George Muirhead said: "The thinking behind the concept of the Shildon Railway Village has always been to embrace the local community as much as possible and give them ownership over the museum.

"Photo Positive is just one of the ways in which we can achieve this, and we really hope the children and their teachers enjoy documenting such an important part of their town's history."

The three artists - creative writer Suzanne Hunton, digital photographer Rachel Clark and film-maker and animator Sheryl Jenkins - will work with 45 children from each school for 32 days during the next year.

The work will be shown in an exhibition when the museum opens.